Harry Potter 1. Prologue

Prologue

Lily Potter was screaming, though not as loud as James who had been thrashing on the floor under the cruciatus curse for five minutes now. Their screams, added to their sons wails from his crib at the corner of the bedroom they had been rounded up in, Death Eater taunts and Bellatrix LeStrange's insane cackling, created a din which, had the property not been warded, would have been heard for miles around.

Slowly James' screaming choked off, blood trickling from his mouth. Bellatrix gave a small whimper of disappointment before she and the Death Eaters turned to Lily, all with sadistic grins on their faces. "Well, shall we see if the mudblood gives us more enjoyment", she cried with glee. She bent down low to Lily and said so only the two of them could hear "Perhaps once I've had my fun with you I could pass you around my friends here, I believe you may recognise Petey here".

One man stood forwards removing his mask and Lily saw a man that her husband considered one of his best friends, a man who they had entrusted their safety to, the man who they had trusted to protect their son. The man who now bore a Dark mark.

Bella cackled, "Do you want to know what little Petey here did to earn his Dark Mark? It's quite simple really. All he had to do was give us your location, something that was very much desired. Soon we shall have tracked down the Longbottoms as well. You should have realised Dumbles couldn't hide you forever". Bella paused, waiting for a reaction and was rewarded with a slight, involuntary widening of the eyes.

"Oh, I'm shocked; did Dumbledore not tell his little Order members why they were hiding? That too is simple. See, there was a prophecy made to Dumbles, a prophecy overheard by our very own Severus Snape, who promptly scurried to the Dark Lord to give a full report". Lily gave no reaction except a single tear trailing down her face, yet inside she was dying. Would every friend they had known play a part in their rapidly approaching deaths?

She noticed James twitching before slowly crawling, unnoticed towards the phoenix ring hanging from a gold chain that hung over the back of a chair. Meanwhile Bella continued "I am the Dark Lords most faithful follower and he trusted me to carry out his orders. You see mudblood, may I call you mudblood, well tonight I came here to kill your son", she said, smiling at the look of fear on Lily's face. "You and the Blood Traitor are just benefits"

James was drawing nearer to the ring that could be used to call the Order but he didn't reach it in time to save his wife from the pain of the cruciatus curse. He couldn't block out her screams or Bellatrix's high pitched laughter. It was ringing in his ears as he took hold of the ring and chain and spoke the activation phrase "Order to arms".

His wife was still screaming when, five minutes later, the multiple cracks of the apparating Order. However, this also alerted the Death Eaters, some who instantly apparated away, yet a group of five diehard Death Eaters remained to fight.

Bella barked out order and the others rushed to follow them. The green light of the killing curse quickly claimed the lives of Lily and James Potter. Just as they were about to use the same curse on the still crying Harry, the door flew open only for the first Order members in the room to be struck down. The fallen Order were rapidly replaced by a second wave that cleared the way for members such as Albus Dumbledore, Alastor Moody and Minerva McGonagall. At their arrival, the remaining Death Eaters tried to flee, yet found themselves unable to, due to the hastily erected anti-apparition wards.

The Death Eaters were easily over powered and transported to the Ministry for processing. Moody approached Dumbledore with a list of the captured Death Eaters and the Orders losses. "We've captured Bellatrix, Rastaban and Rudolphus LeStrange, Barty Crouch Jr and some minor lackey that was too stupid to run when they had the chance", Moody sighed deeply before continuing "we've lost James and Lily and Edgar Bones. Diggle will need St Mungos. Now Albus, what do we do with the kid."

"I believe that, until the Dark Lord and all his followers have been defeated, Harry will be safe with his mother's sister and her family. I can set up blood wards that will stop those who wish him harm access to the property. Now come, we must be on our way. Tom will not be pleased at tonight's outcome. For tonight I will take him to Hogwarts and entrust him to Poppy and let Remus say his goodbyes."

Dumbledore calmly walked away from the scene of destruction with the small child in his arms. He made his way to the edge of the wards before disappearing with an almost inaudible pop only to reappear, an instant later, at the gates of Hogwarts.

Walking into his school and home he felt a great sense of sadness overtake him. Two of the most remarkable people to pass through these halls had fallen to this war leaving their only son to go through the world without his parent's guidance, be it for the everyday things or the Lordship the boy would eventually have to take up. He left the boy in Poppy's care. She had been crying at the end of his explanation of the Potter's fate, before swearing to protect the boy.

He left the hospital wing, heading to his office to ponder the circumstances of the Potter's deaths. Only one person could have given the Potters location to Voldemort – Sirius Black, the secret keeper. He had almost pleaded with the Potters to use himself, but James had protested and said Sirius was his brother and would never betray them. He swore to himself, there and then, that when Siri… no, it was Black now, that when Black was caught he would do nothing to prevent whatever fate would fall on him. He would have to excuse himself form the trial so no residual affection would affect him, or his decision. The Black blood must have been hidden, yet it had come forth when none had expected it.

One week later on the eleventh of November, Vernon Dursley was just walking out of his house on Privet Drive. Life had been going well for Vernon recently. He had gotten a promotion at work and with that came the ability to buy a new car. His son was also turning into a fine child. He knew what he wanted and that would serve him well in the world. His wife was also turning into the women he wanted her to be. She now knew her place and that was to serve her husband.

He remembered when he had first married her. She once had a streak of stubborn independence, but as his father had said, it was easily squashed. Her rather… unsavoury relations could also be overlooked as he and banned all contact between her and the _Potters_. He had also set her right when she had tried to argue. He didn't understand why she couldn't see that they were freaks.

The thought of freaks set him off on his usual tangent. He often wondered if it would be possible to remove the freakishness from one of _them_. He was thinking so deeply that he didn't notice the oddly acting cat loitering around his house.

He went to his workplace still engrossed in his thoughts and his noticed none of the irregularities that the other employees saw. However, he had shook himself out of his daze by lunchtime and decided to walk across the road to buy himself some food. It was here that he finally noticed the strangeness that was around this day. He passed many oddly dressed people and couldn't help but overhear their conversation on his way out of the bakers.

"Yes, little Neville Longbottom."

"Too late for the Potters. Poor harry."

"At least they caught Black. Azkaban's too good for that traitor"

"I always said he was no good. Bad blood will out."

Vernon returned, stricken, to his office. Black, Potter, Longbottom. They were always mentioned in his wife's stories about his sister. Black and Potter would be suspicious enough, but could be easily explained away as a coincidence; however Longbottom was an unusual name and coupled with the others he knew it had something to do with _them_. But still, he had made his opinions of them clear the one and only time he had allowed them to visit. Content in the knowledge that they wouldn't dare face his fury again, he went about his day as usual.

To reward himself he decided to leave early for the day. Getting home he saw nothing out of the ordinary. He absentmindedly walked into his house dreaming of his dinner, only to hear his son's screams and his wife's frantic pleas for quiet. As Petunia noticed him walk in, she flinched and instantly went silent. Vernon smirked and thought that this was power, not that unnatural freakishness possessed by the Potters. He glanced at his son who went on yelling despite Vernon's presence. Vernon's beady eyes narrowed before he realised that if a wife could be trained, a son could be too. Vernon gave his wife a twisted smile before heading upstairs to his bed.

Petunia choked down a sob after she had sent her son to bed. She knew Vernon had an anger problem when she agreed to marry him, but after the wedding he had begun to hurt her. It had gotten to the point that she felt nothing but fear in his presence. She would have tried to get her sister and brother in law to help, but she hadn't seen them since they had been forced from the house and had no way to get in contact with them. She stayed alone downstairs in the evening as it was where she felt safest.

Sitting quiet with a cup of tea, she heard a slight rustling outside and froze, thoughts of burglars and attackers running rampant through her head. Hearing light footsteps walking away from her front door, she cautiously walked to the front door and opened it.

While she was expecting many unusual things, a small baby with a letter was not one of them yet that was what she found. With a gasp, she picked him up and brought him inside. Laying him down, she picked up the letter.

What she read brought her to tears. Her sister, the last of the family she had been born into and not foolishly married into, was dead, along with her husband, because of a war that had been ended one week later. Reading further she read that the boy, Harry, was to stay with her where he would be safe from attack by wizards who would wish him arm. Wards had been set up that would keep the four in the house safe.

She wondered how she would break the news to Vernon that his wizarding nephew was now living with them. She knew that she couldn't keep him totally safe, but she could keep him with her and do her best to prevent Vernon harming him. The least she could do for her sister was protect her son.

Albus Dumbledore sat at his desk with a heavy heart. Two orphans in the space of a week. Minerva and Severus both objected to him placing Harry with the Dursleys, but blood wards could only be erected if there was an immediate member of family and Petunia Dursley was the only one, from both families, that it could be. He wasn't a total fool however; he had placed minor blocks on Harry's magical core. Not enough to harm him, just enough to block accidental magic in an average magical child. It should keep young Harry from being detected. He knew it seemed drastic but, at the moment he had to focus on Neville.

No matter how harsh it sounded, Neville should have died when that curse hit him, yet he survived and the Dark Lord was supposedly dead. However Albus couldn't believe that. There was neither body nor any witnesses. He also knew that Tom had taken steps to avoid his own demise. He was unsure how he had achieved this, or what atrocities he had committed to reach his goal.

It was clear to him that the prophecy had not yet been fulfilled. Neville Longbottom had a destiny that he must follow for the survival of the wizarding world, for the Greater Good. This didn't mean, however, that Albus would give the boy a wand and send him on a suicide mission. First the boy would need to be tested to see his abilities and reactions to pressure. He wouldn't begin instantly of course, he would wait until the boy came to school where the environment could be controlled.

While Dumbledore was planning and Petunia was reading, two young boys were set to grow up without their parents. Whilst one would forever be good, despite the many forms of hell that he would endure that would break lesser men, the other's soul was slowly being corrupted by the darkness that was infecting it, that was slowly polluting the soul of Neville Longbottom and forcing the creation of a new Dark wizard that could bring the world to its knees. Both would fight in the coming war, but not as brothers as their parents would wish, but as enemies who would face each other.


	2. Chapter 2

Harry Potter lay in his cupboard one morning with his lone blanket that aunt Petunia had smuggled to him. He was flexing his wrist that his uncle had broken only the night before. He always healed fast, he always had and it seemed like he always would. His uncle had always tried to tell him he was a freak, but he knew better.

When he was eight years old and both his uncle and cousin were out tormenting others with their presence, his aunt had called him into the kitchen. There she had explained why strange things had always happened around him, why his uncle had always hurt him. He was magical, just like his parents, and his uncle feared that. He couldn't stand believing that someone had greater power than him, that he could be squashed like a bug if the urge took them. Therefore he tried to reinforce his power over Harry just to show he was better.

Of course, aunt Petunia had simply said he was scared of the unusual, but Harry knew the worst of Vernon Dursley and if there was one thing he couldn't stand, it was someone better than him. That was exactly what Harry was. Vernon was a narrow minded, bigoted idiot that was angry when a child called him on it. He was also predictable with where he would vent that anger.

Harry knew his aunt would be disappointed in him, but he needed to know how far Vernon would go when he was angry. If he escalated his normal treatment of Harry, it was likely that when the time came for him to leave, and aunt Petunia said it would be soon, that he would go… overboard when more "freaks" entered his house. Harry knew that his Hogwarts letter was coming soon and Harry was planning to go, by any means necessary and that was not something that Vernon would just accept. Vernon considered Harry his property and this planned defiance would show him that Harry couldn't be controlled and Vernon wouldn't break him no matter what he tried.

He heard the soft footsteps that could only belong to his aunt as she lightly padded down the stairs. She quietly came to his cupboard and drew back the bolt and opened his door. Harry winced at the sudden light before taking the hand his aunt offered him to help him up. Together they walked through to the kitchen to make breakfast for the household. As the bacon was frying, his aunt finally spoke "Harry, do you have to provoke him?" she sighed

"Aunt Petunia, I have to. I'm leaving and he will try to stop me. I need to see how far he will go if I push him, and besides," he smirked, flexing his repaired wrist "good as new."

Harry finished making breakfast while his aunt went up to get Vernon and Dudley. Hearing them thunder down the stairs followed slowly by Petunia. He moved out of the way as Dudley crashed through the door and raced to his seat, stopping only to punch Harry in his side. Vernon, noticing Harry's glare, cuffed him hard on the side of his head.

Harry smirked, Vernon was becoming desperate. Usually he would be given light knocks or insults to him and his parents. Vernon didn't know that aunt Petunia had told him the truth about who his parents were. Vernon didn't know much about Harry or Petunia. His aunt told him stuff that Vernon didn't know or wouldn't allow Harry to know, such as the wizarding world and Harry's place in it. According to his aunt, the Potters were a Noble and Most Ancient House. Apparently that meant Harry would be a Lord, like his father was, when he was older. aparently

Vernon also didn't know about aunt Petunia's illness. She was diagnosed when Harry was eight, and that was what prompted her to tell him about his heritage. Now Harry was nearing eleven and Aunt Petunia was running out of time. It was thought that she would pass soon after he would have left for school.

Harry shook himself out of his daze. He didn't like thinking about his aunt not being there. She was the only one that cared about him, except for old Mrs Figg who lived down the street and took care of him sometimes.

He caught his aunt looking at him with a sad look on her face. She knew what he was thinking about. She always did. She told him not to think about it. She was only sad that she wouldn't be able to protect him from Vernon any more. He had asked what about Dudley. He couldn't stand him, but he was her son, not Harry. She had only said that Vernon had destroyed who her son should have been and that Harry was another son to her.

Breakfast was eaten in silence before they went their separate ways – Harry and Petunia to make the cake for Dudley's birthday tomorrow, Dudley to terrorise the neighbourhood with his pals and Vernon went to work, but not before he gave Harry a casual, yet heavy blow to his back.

* * *

Harry got a rude awakening the next day from Dudley stomping down the stairs, causing dust and spiders to rain down on him. It seemed Dudley was excited. Harry heard his bolt slide back and he started to climb out before Dudley pushed him back by the head causing Harry to slam against the wall.

Harry entered the kitchen to finish off the cooking his aunt started. He listened to Dudley whine about _only_ getting thirty seven presents. Aunt Petunia had to promise him two more so they could eat in peace while Vernon simply praised his son and his selfishness.

By the end of breakfast Harry learnt that he had no choice but to go to the zoo. His usual minder was unable to take him and they could get no one else on such short notice so he would be forced to spend the day watching Dudley and his idiotic friend, Piers, make fools of themselves and, most likely, by extension, Harry and Petunia. He would say Vernon too, but he would be able to embarrass himself without help.

Loading into the car after Vernon threatened Harry, who acted suitably scared, they made their way to the zoo. Listening to Vernon mutter under his breath about motorcycles, Harry realised that he had the perfect opportunity to rile him up a bit.

"I had a dream about a motorcycle. It was flying", he smirked. Aunt Petunia knew what he had done and sent a slight glare as Vernon bellowed "MOTORCYCLES DON'T FLY". To which Harry innocently replied "but uncle, it was only a dream."

Inwardly, Harry was laughing his ass off. Vernon had almost rammed into the car in front because he felt anything even slightly unusual would corrupt Harry and possibly show him what he was. After all, if he didn't know the truth it would all go away. People in denial were so fun.

Arriving at the zoo, he saw Dudley and Piers run around like idiots while aunt Petunia tried to herd them into a building. Harry decided to go his separate way rather than spent his day with them. Wandering around on his own he was bored, but it was better than Vernon and Dudley hitting him when they could get away with it.

He finally met back up with them in the snake house. Aunt Petunia gave him a disapproving look, he must have worried her. Standing to the side of the cobra exhibit, he watched Dudley and Piers annoy the snake. He kept glaring at the glass, wishing those idiots would shut the hell up. Suddenly, without any warning, the glass disappeared and Dudley and Piers took a little tumble as the snake slithered out and down the corridor with a hiss. Harry had Vernon looming over him with a murderous look on his face. This was not good.

Getting home, Harry was tossed in the cupboard while Vernon went to get a drink and Petunia went upstairs. She knew she could not stop this. Two hours later Harry heard his uncle thudding along the hall before his cupboard door was roughly ripped open and Harry dragged out by the hair before his uncle raised the belt in his hand and brought it crashing down on Harry. This continued until Harry was unconscious, where Vernon began using feet and fists, breaking Harry's bones. He never cried out.

* * *

Harry was lifted out of unconsciousness by a damp cloth wiping some of the blood off his face. He opened his eyes to see his aunt with tears trailing down her cheeks. He knew she hates seeing him like this but there was nothing either of them could do. Harry looked down at himself. He was fully healed except scars that were unlikely to heal, but he was covered in blood, that had caused his baggy clothes to become crusty.

While Harry would love to take a shower, he knew he had to make breakfast. Moving stiffly and leaning slightly on his aunt, he moved slowly into the kitchen to start the bacon. Serving up the breakfast as Dudley and Vernon came into the kitchen; he saw Vernon narrow his beady eyes as he noticed that Harry had no ill effects from his beating and inwardly smirked.

As usual Vernon told Dudley to get the mail, who simply whined until Harry was chosen instead. Harry walked out into the hall and picked up the letters and began searching for the letter he wanted to see. With shaking hands he picked the letter up that he had been waiting for yet occasionally feared would never come.

He was about to open it before Vernon yelled and he went back into the kitchen, stopping onto to slide his letter into his cupboard. Walking into the kitchen, he gave his uncle the post and his aunt a subtle nod. Petunia smiled slightly as she recognised her nephew's escape from this life that they were forced to lead.

Later Harry left for his cupboard and his letter, while his aunt distracted Vernon. Eagerly he ripped open the envelope and saw the words he had been waiting for – an invitation to Britain's premium school of magic. He leant his head back on the wall and smiled. He had been waiting three years but he was finally going.

Ripping up the letter so his uncle couldn't find it he started thinking about how to get to Diagon Alley. He would need his aunt's help as she knew where to go, but he thought it would be quite easy as she wanted him to see where his parents had met and fallen in love. But they both knew, when he took his first steps in the wizarding world, he wasn't coming out.

* * *

The next day Harry and Petunia left for London claiming that they were going shopping and Harry was needed to carry the bags. In the city, Petunia quickly led them to a small pub called the Leaky Cauldron which was how muggleborns entered the wizarding world. Aunt Petunia asked the barman to open the way into the Alley and Harry took his first step into his new world.

Staring around in amazement, he vaguely noticed his aunt with a nostalgic smile and knew she was thinking about his mother. They both shook themselves out of their daze and manoeuvred their way through the crush of the crowd to the gleaming white building that was Gringotts. After reading the warning they made their way inside to a free teller.

"Excuse me, we would like to talk to someone about the Potter accounts", aunt Petunia stated. At this the goblin looked up and stared at them both for several seconds, causing Harry to feel twitchy. No one paid attention to him usually.

The goblin hopped down from his chair and said "follow me". He led the deeper into the bank, down the marble corridors before eventually stopping before a set of ornately carved doors. "This is the office for the Potter account manager. Step inside and he will be with you shortly."

Inside the office there was a large desk with two chairs in front of it. Taking their seats, it was a matter of seconds before a goblin walked in. "Mrs Dursley, Mr Potter, I am Clawfang, Potter account manager. What can I do for you today?" the goblin asked.

Harry here is just re-entering the magical word and we were wondering if you could explain the state of the Potter accounts." Aunt Petunia asked.

"Well, we continued the medium risk, medium gain investments that we had gone into at the death of your parents, after receiving no orders to the contrary. The Potter vault currently holds around nine billion galleons and the Peverell vault holds around seven billion galleon. Your trust vault holds five thousand galleons and refills annually."

To say Harry and Petunia were shocked was an understatement. Harry was rich. Clawfang smirked slightly at their stunned faces before continuing.

"Until you are fifteen you are unable to withdraw money from your family vaults but you can take out books and weapons. I recommend that first you take out the book on your family magic and history so you don't go to Hogwarts unaware of your family's status as an Ancient and Noble house for there are many who would use your lack of knowledge against you. Apart from that I cannot think of anything else that's vital for you to know. Anything else?"

Dazed they shook their heads. "Then I'll have Griphook take you to your vaults". Griphook lead them to a cart, which, when they were seated went hurtling down the tracks, gaining cheers from Harry but screams from Petunia.

First stop was the trust vault, which they took a large amount of coins from. Next they went to the Potter family vault. There Harry was directed to place his hand over the large Potter crest that covered the doors. A slight glow lit the crest before the doors silently opened. Feeling a little overwhelmed standing where his ancestors had stood for thousands of years, he stepped over the threshold. Quietly, he walked through the large vault looking for the book Clawfang had told him about. He passed piles of gold and glances weapons and armour hanging from the walls that weren't covered by bookshelves that he instinctively knew held journals of Potters over the generations. He somehow knew the book he was looking for wasn't there.

Making his way to the centre he spotted a pedestal with a closed book on it. Lifting the book, he knew that this was what he was searching for even though it had no title. In fact, he knew everything about the book, though not the details in contained. He knew only someone of Potter birth could touch it. He knew that with a thought he could send it back to the vault. He knew it was bound to the Potter family and its members had been adding to it for centuries, just like he would.

Lifting the surprisingly light book form its stand, he made his way out of the vault where his aunt and Griphook were waiting for him. Not letting go of the book, he simply smiled to his aunt as she did the same. They all climbed into the cart and raced to the surface, each having the same reaction as before.

Exiting the bank, they made their way down the Alley heading for Madam Malkin's, which remained from when Petunia was a child. In the shop, there was another boy being fitted for robes on a stool. When Harry was stood on an adjacent stool, the boy politely introduced himself as Draco Malfoy and, after Harry had admitted to knowing little about Hogwarts, started explaining the house system. Slytherins were ambitious and cunning, Gryffindors were bold and courageous, Ravenclaws were smart and Hufflepuffs were loyal and hard working. From there Draco moved onto Quidditch and explained the positions. Harry thought it sounded fascinating.

However, when an older version of Draco entered the shop, Draco's entire attitude changed. His face grew blank and he went silent. Totally ignoring Harry. "Father", he greeted. "Draco, hurry up, we must be going", Mr Malfoy replied, barely sparing Harry or his aunt a glance.

Finally finished, Draco hopped down from his stool and put his bag, shrunken by his father, in his pocket and followed his father out of the shop, looking apologetically at Harry. Harry understood. That relationship seemed to be like his and Vernon's.

Harry was quickly finished in Madam Malkin's, and from there they went to get the rest of Harry's supplies, even getting extra books in Flourish and Blotts that looked interesting. The final stop on their trip was Ollivander's. Stepping inside, they heard the tinkling of a bell before an old man seemed to appear out of the shadows.

"Mr Potter. I thought I'd be seeing you here soon." He abruptly broke off and started pulling boxes of the shelves, seemingly at random. He put wands in Harry's hands faster than he could blink, only to yank them away just as quick, barely having time to tell him what they were made of, not that Harry understood it anyway. Eventually, a wand found its way to his hand as Ollivander said "eleven inches, holly and core of crushed runespore fang with dragon heartstring. Excellent for defensive magic and transfiguration, also quite good at charms. Good all-rounder. Take care of it. Nine galleons please."

Harry handed the money over and on a whim requested a wand holster. Ollivander gave him a curious look before going into the back room and bringing back a holster. "Dragon hide with anti-summoning charms, quite flexible so it won't hinder your movement."

Harry slid it on his wrist before placing his new wand in it. It fit well and he would always have his wand in reach. Harry handed the money for the holster over and he and Petunia took his leave. Back in the Leaky Cauldron Harry and Petunia decided to have lunch and discussed what to do next.

"Harry, I think you should stay in the Leaky Cauldron until school starts. You can floo to the platform on the first. Its safer than us trying to go back and tell Vernon." Harry nodded "but said what about you" he asked sadly. He knew it was for the best. Petunia tried to smile "Harry, I don't have long left. It's you I worry about" Harry nodded. It was doubtful she would last until Christmas. "I'll do it. How long until you have to leave" he asked. Petunia checked the time "two hours".

Petunia left to arrange a room with Tom the barman while Harry watched the people in the pub. Aunt Petunia came to help him take his shopping bags up to his home for the next month. An hour and a half later Harry and Petunia said very tearful goodbyes knowing it was the last time they would see each other. Petunia left sobbing while early the next morning Harry fell into a restless sleep.

* * *

updates will be a bit hectic due to exams

please reviev


	3. Authors note

To anyone who cares, I've changed my pen name. Honestly, I doubt many people will notice, or care. If I get _one _more review, good or bad (preferably good) I will update by wednesday. Yes, I am resorting to shameless blackmail. Whatever.


	4. Chapter 3

**I was so shocked that blackmail worked, but I'll probably do it more often now.**

**To those who thought Vernon was ooc, that was the way he was raised, he was drunk, he knows Harry heals himself and he's kinda crazy but you are still probably right.**

**Here's the next chapter.**

Harry spent the month before school wandering the Alley and reading both his school books and about his family. From the Potter family Grimore he had taken from their vault, he discovered the magic that Potter's had running through their blood.

Centuries ago, a Potter had married an enchantress and the Potter line was blessed with uncanny grasp over mindmagics. Any curses or potions that tried to affect a Potter were useless and that included imperious, compulsion charms and love potions. It was said that they were even immune to the effects of veela. They were, however, unable to use the standard form of occlumency and had to use the same unusual style that was known to the Lovegood's. It was also said that the same enchantress had cursed her only son when he had angered her and that was the source of the infamous Potter hair. Harry assumed that it would have seemed a worse punishment in those times.

He also read the entries from past Potter's about the magic they specialised in. his father had written about something called the animagus transformation, his grandfather, who was a charms master had written his notes on how to charm a piece of jewellery like a watch or necklace with multiple protection and communication charms, the same that were now in the Potter head of house ring. There were entries on various other subjects, from potions to battle magic.

Wandering the Alley was fascinating. There were shops dedicated to both common and obscure branches of magic and they all seemed to test the customers. The shops that you had to search for were generally the most interesting and the apocatherys refused to sell dangerous ingredients without testing those who would buy them first. There were some shops that Harry couldn't even enter without being glared at, which left him no choice but to spend his days at an ice cream parlour.

There he watched witches and wizards that passed. There were the aristocratic men who passed by looking as if they owned the Alley, the shadier folk who saw the rich as a target and the young children who had just been introduced to the wizarding world looking around awestruck. He just watched on silently as they did their shopping, the crowd getting thicker the nearer they got to the beginning of school.

On the first of September, Harry was woken up at nine by Tom the barman so he could eat a good breakfast before leaving on the train. Tom showed him how to use the floo that would take him straight onto the platform. However, he hadn't been warned about how disorientating it would be. At the other end, he barrelled straight out into a pair of red headed twins and they all landed in a heap on the ground.

The twins who were now insanely grinning started to speak. "Well Fred, I think we have to take this as a challenge, don't you?"

"Yes George, after all we have a reputation to uphold. If one of our brand new firsties can get the better of us, well, we'd never live it down."

"Of course, Fred, we'd be ridiculed. Can you picture Snape? But never let it be said that the devious Weasley pranksters never gave fair warning. We shall give this innocent, unknown first year time to prepare."

Harry was beginning to get a headache. Watching these two speak was like watching a tennis match fast forwarded. He thought he managed to get the basics of this conversation. As he knocked into him they were going to prank him.

"Well little firstie, it goes like this, we shall give you till the end of the week to try and prank us. If you manage it you will be forgiven and don't need to fear retaliation. If there is no attempt or a very poor one, we will prank you In return"

Harry shrugged "what's the worst that could happen. You're on". The twins now decided to introduce themselves "we are Fred and George Weasley – the terrible twosome, the dastardly duo, the horrible hooligans and so on, bane of teachers everywhere".

"Harry Potter, mind giving me a hand with this trunk?" with the twins help, he managed to get himself settled in an empty compartment by soon after ten where he began to read his transfiguration book.

He lost himself in his book, only looking up when the train began to leave only to see black boy already in his robes just staring at him. Harry closed his book and just stared right back. They were like that for twenty minutes just looking at each other until the compartment door opened and both their heads snapped round to see who had interrupted their odd little walked two girls their age, one of whom just sighed and said "Again Blaise. When we asked you to try and find an empty compartment, we didn't mean try and creep someone out until they left themselves."

"But Daphne, it works most of the time, and besides, I like this guy he just stared right back. It's been going on for twenty minutes and I didn't scare him away."

"Well done Blaise, you've managed to find someone as weird as you". At this both boys yelled "hey" before grinning at each other at their similar reactions. The girls paled before the one that had spoken before whispered "oh Merlin. There's two of them".

Harry and Blaise Zabini spent the next few minutes discussing with each other the many reasons the girls should be happy with two of them before Harry learnt the names of the girls. Daphne Greengrass had been the one that had spoken before while Tracy Davis was the one who had so far remained silent. The train journey passed quickly. The four children spent the time talking, only interrupted by the sweet trolley and some children looking for a toad.

Apparently the other three all were childhood friend who all wanted to go to Slytherin and in no time at all managed to convert Harry to what Blaise called the "Dark Side". According to him Slytherin's had all the fun. The eldest could strike fear into the hearts of the other houses. They had little fear of consequences as in any altercation with the other houses the blame naturally fell on them. Because of this, Slytherin had spent centuries cultivating their evil persona. It was also useful when trying to get to class as people would run away from them leading to clear corridors. It was only made easier when the other houses warned first years away from Slytherins.

In all honesty, most of the current Slytherins cared about blood purity or Dark Lords. They still believed they were superior, of course, but they didn't really care about blood except to brag. Anyway, Harry knew the power wasn't in their blood, but their legacy. All the old families had Grimores like Harry's and the knowledge they contained was a family's true power.

It was just getting dark when they pulled into the station and followed a giant of a man down a narrow path that lead to the lake. Harry got in a boat with his new friends and the boats all took off as one.

They pulled up at the school and were passed over to a stern, Scottish witch who gave them a speech about the houses and the points system before leaving them. Harry took this time to observe his new year mates. Most were twitching nervously, panicking about how they were sorted. However, Harry's attention was drawn to one standing slightly separate from the rest who, as if sensing Harry's gaze snapped round to face him. He had dark hair, slightly covering a scar on his forehead. Harry recognised him from this scar. No one could be in the wizarding world for long and not hear about Neville Longbottom. Harry frowned, something felt off about this boy, as if there was something wrong lurking just below the surface. Longbottom seemed to sense Harry's unease and feed off it, he was smirking now and Harry felt that bad feeling grow before Blaise touched his shoulder drawing Harry's attention to the children now following McGonagall.

She led them through the double doors to the great hall that was filled with students and teachers all staring expectantly at the first years. He dirty old hat was placed on a stool at the front where the hundreds in the room all stared, waiting.

The one thing Harry was not expecting was for the hat to sing a song. It wasn't even a good one. Harry sniggered, unheard amongst the cheers. One by one, they were called up to sit under the hat, before being sent off to their new houses.

Harry saw Tracy and Daphne both be sent to Slytherin and Longbottom sent off to Gryffindor. It was unsettling that he appeared to be the only one to notice something off about him, soon after Harry was called up to sit under the hat.

It was a short discussion that ended in the hat suggesting Slytherin. This was where Harry wanted to go so he went to sit across from Tracy and Daphne. It was only a short while later that Blaise joined them and they were treated to insane gibberish by an apparently senile old man.

At the end of dinner they followed their prefects down into the schools dungeons before stopping at a blank stretch of wall. The prefect told them the password and had them line up in the slightly depressing common room before starting his speech.

"You are now Slytherins. You are now feared and hated throughout the school. Use this to your advantage. Show them what they want to see. It has its uses. Outside the dungeons you will be seen as dangerous. This is what we want them to see. It meant the individuals will generally leave you alone even if you are alone yourself. Regardless, you should try not to be alone. The only safe places are the classrooms, great hall, library and dungeons, but stay together until you reach them. Present a united front so they believe you always have backup. Girl's dormitory to the left, boys to the right keep it separate. Two to a room."

With that rather abrupt speech they wandered off, already arranging their rooms. Blaise and Harry were sharing and they entered into a large and spacious room with large four poster beds and dressers. All the furniture was coloured black or green and seemed quite peaceful.

They sat talking for a while before bed. "You are lucky that everyone is caught up with the boy who lived coming to school or they would all be having a heart attack about a Potter in Slytherin. It's been centuries since that happened."

"Yeah, well, I couldn't leave my new friends. You would all miss me too much", Harry joked, before hesitating "hey Blaise, did you notice anything… odd about Longbottom" he asked seriously.

Blaise leaned forward, "like what?" he knew a serious topic when someone brought it up,

"Just something off, as if he's hiding something". Blaise shook his head slowly "no, but I wasn't paying much attention to him. I wasn't brought up to worship the boy who lived. My family waited out the war in Italy after we lost some cousins and my mother's husband in a raid in Diagon Alley. We stayed neutral as neither side would use us except for cannon fodder and a source of finance. We had offers from either side of course, but the Dark side thought they were winning and weren't in dire need of our services and Dumbledore and his minions would never try to force us."

Throughout his explanation, Blaise looked evasive as if he was trying not to give something away. Harry noticed it but decided not to ask as many people found the war a sore topic, even after all these years.

"Huh, well it must have just been my imagination or something I suppose" he muttered, still in deep thought. It was now getting late and the boys decided to go to bed. They blew out the candles and Harry fell into an uneasy sleep where he saw flashes of Neville Longbottom's dark stare and one of the teachers he saw tonight with a soundtrack of screams that had haunted his nightmares for years that he knew came from his parents last hours.

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