What If… Harry Potter

Pain. Excruciating pain was normal. Harry's tiny and underfed body was constantly in pain. He didn't know why his family hated him so much and when he asked, it only brought more pain. He couldn't explain the things happening to him and he didn't understand why everything was his fault. They never told him why and always hurt him when he asked.

The latest thing was apparently the final straw for his uncle, because he had grabbed Harry and shook him so heard that his tiny four year old arm snapped like a twig. Vernon had frozen at the sound and Petunia let out a little shriek before a very scared Harry balled and cried.

“Quiet.” The big man said, then he shouted when he wasn't listened to. “I said QUIET!”

Harry whimpered and then Vernon dragged him over to the cupboard under the stairs and tossed him inside.

“Vernon, we can't just leave him like that.” Petunia said. “He needs medical attention and...”

“Pet, if you say one more thing, you'll be feeling the same thing.” Vernon spat at her and the woman paled at the threat. “I need to think and I need quiet.”

“You hear that, freak? Be quiet!” Dudley said from the living room.

Vernon went to the couch and sat down to think about what he needed to do. There was no way to cover up the boy having a cast for several weeks and he would have to come up with an excuse.

“He fell down the stairs.” Vernon said and smiled. “Rambunctious tyke was eager and took a tumble, that's all.”

Petunia closed her mouth on her observation that Harry's other injuries didn't match with falling down the stairs.

“We'll even do it from a few stairs up, just to make it look real.” Vernon said, getting into the plan. He stood up and looked at his wife. “We'll do it in the morning and take him to the hospital then.”

Petunia opened her mouth to say he might not survive the night.

“He'll be fine. He's always fine the next day.” Vernon said. “Let's get to bed.”

Little Harry had listened to the whole thing and he shivered at his impending fall down the stairs in the morning. His silent tears rolled down his face and he tried, fruitlessly, to cradle his broken arm to stop it from hurting. His underdeveloped mind had no idea about going into shock or about trauma to internal organs, namely is brain.

He was his cousin's punching bag and just like seasoned fighters taking severe blows to the head, poor Harry's reasoning was a little skewed. If left unchecked and untended, his emotions would become repressed and he would accept everything happening to him as how he should be treated. He wouldn't know any different, after all.

Harry slipped into a shock coma an hour later and his little body started to shut down. All of the abuse was a bit too much for him and his breathing stuttered and became laboured as his mind fought his body's functions failing. It was at this moment that the protection around Harry's curse scar broke. His little bit of magic that was powering it and the wards around the house, failed.

The little boy's body started to glow slightly as all that mystical energy that was trapped seeped into his underdeveloped brain. No one knew that it was a fragment of Voldemort's soul except for one person, and Albus Dumbledore was never going to tell anyone. The soul fragment didn't know that and it didn't make much difference.

The brain being underdeveloped as it was, couldn't come anywhere near close enough to holding the information that the soul had inside of it. There was a very low howl of pain as most of the soul piece simply passed on, as if a sacrifice to keep the boy alive, and the glow faded.

Harry opened his eyes sometime later and they glowed slightly green. He took a breath and his lungs were working again. He didn't know why they did and he didn't care. He sat up and looked at his still broken arm. He had no clue as to why it didn't hurt, so he ignored it and reached up for the nearly invisible string he had tied to the sliding lock's handle.

He pulled on the string straight down to unlatch it, then he pulled it to the right to slide the metal clasp open. The door to the cupboard opened with a little creak. Luckily, the sound was low enough that those upstairs didn't hear it.

Harry stepped out, careful of making noise, and crept to the stairs. He knew to step on the side beside the wall, because it was more secure there and the steps didn't make any noise as he went up the stairs. He walked down the hallway near the wall for the same reason as the stairs, less noise, and looked into his uncle's bedroom. The snores were loud and he could see his aunt staring at the ceiling.

Not tonight, then. Harry thought and crept back down the hallway to his cousin's room. He opened the door and slipped inside to see the fat pig squishing his poor mattress into the broken bed frame. He walked over to the side of the bed to look at Dudley's ugly face and there it was in all its opened mouth glory.

Harry had a wicked thought as the fat boy's tongue moved slightly. He looked around for something appropriate and was happy to see a handful of big suckers on the nightstand.

Poor Dudley, fell asleep with sweets in his mouth. Harry thought and carefully opened one and tossed the wrapper onto the pile of them beside the bed. Such a shame that he choked to death. He smiled and carefully inserted the sucker into the boy's mouth. He waited for a particularly loud breath out before he shoved the sucker hard.

Nothing happened for about thirty seconds and Harry thought it wasn't going to work, then there was a gurgle from Dudley's throat and the sucker slipped almost completely out of sight and stopped. Harry grinned at a job well done. Even if someone got to him now, there was no way he was going to stop choking.

Harry left the bedroom and went back downstairs to his cupboard. He put the string back to where he could use it again and pulled the door shut. He slowly moved the string to the left and heard the click of the slide going back into the catch, then he let the string go. He heard the small handle clack and knew it was back in the closed and locked position.

He settled down and moved his arm to a position that he wouldn't accidentally roll over on it and cause more damage, and went to sleep. He couldn't wait until morning and see what was going to happen.

*

“Boy! Get up! We have an accident to stage!” Vernon said as he banged on the cupboard door and unlocked it.

Harry groaned, even though he still couldn't feel his broken arm. He did it because he knew his uncle would expect it.

“Get out here!” Vernon said and opened the door. His hand hesitated as he reached for the broken arm, then he grabbed Harry by his top's collar and dragged him out. “I'd say six steps should be enough.”

Harry thought that rolling the fat walrus from the top would be the funniest thing he would ever see.

“Here we go.” Vernon said with an evil gleam in his eye and shoved.

Harry wasn't an actor and he didn't have to sell getting even more hurt as he tumbled down the stairs and landed in a heap at the bottom on his stomach. His arm was now facing the other way, too.

“PET! Call the ambulance! The freak... I mean the boy fell down the stairs!” Vernon said and left Harry there. “We can't move you. The medics need to see what happened, don't they?”

Oh, they will. Harry thought and laid there and let tears roll down his face.

It took twenty minutes before the ambulance was heard.

“I'll get it!” Vernon said, his voice happy. He walked right by Harry at the bottom of the stairs without looking at him and opened the door. “I'm so glad you're here! He fell down the stairs and it looks like he has a broken arm.”

A man and a woman in uniform came inside and the woman let out a little shriek.

“YOU LEFT HIM THERE! It's been almost half an hour! He could be crippled!” The woman shouted at Vernon and neither she nor the man with her missed the little smile Vernon had. A second later, Vernon was on the floor and had a hand covering the side of his face. The woman had punched the tub of lard and nearly knocked him out.

“I'll have you charged if he's hurt any worse than he is now!” The woman growled at him and then she seemed to become a different person as she turned to Harry. “I can see you're still awake. Are you in pain?”

“No. I don't feel anything.” Harry said, truthfully.

The woman maintained a calm face as a tear came out her eyes and rolled down her face. “It's okay. We're going to check you over and we're going to try, very very carefully, to put a neck brace on you.”

“How old are you?” The man asked and opened his toolbox, only there weren't tools in there.

“I'm four.” Harry said and the woman caught her breath. She kept checking his vitals without stopping, though.

“You're a brave boy.” The man said and took out a stethoscope. “Can you breath in for me?”

“Maybe.” Harry said and the man clamped his mouth closed and put the cold thing on Harry's back.

“Please try.”

Harry's breathing was fine last night and now after his little tumble, only one of his lungs were working. He rasped a shallow breath and the man looked shocked.

“Good god, one of his lungs is collapsed.” The man said and the woman took off out the front door. The street was getting crowded by the neighbours trying to see what was going on. The woman came back in with an oxygen tank and quickly set it up and put something in Harry's nose.

“Take another breath, please. Through your nose.” The man said and Harry did. “Okay, that's not too bad.” He said and dug out a large pad-like thing. “We have to move you a little to get this thing around your neck.”

“Kay.” Harry said and after a few very awkward moments and the woman trying to keep his broken arm steady, the neck brace was in place and Harry's face was pointing towards the carpet. He didn't mind, because the air coming in through his nose wasn't stopped by that.

“Now is the hard part.” The man said. “Can you move your legs? We need to know if we need a full stretcher.”

Harry had to think about it and then tried to wiggle his toes.

“Oh, thank god.” The woman whispered and her gentle hands lightly stroked his feet. “Can you feel that? Is it ticklish?”

“What's ticklish mean?” Harry asked and the woman sucked in a sharp breath.

“Craig, call the police.” The woman said and moved her hands up Harry's calves. “Anything there?”

“I don't know. No one's ever touched me there before.” Harry said and no one questioned why a four year old was so articulate.

The woman had to turn away and get her face back under control. She didn't want the hurt boy to see how angry she was over a four year old not knowing what someone touching them felt like. She knew, like she knew the back of her hand, that this boy had never been hugged in his short life.

“They're on their way. I've got the pictures.” Craig said and she nodded.

The woman took a deep breath and went back to work. “I've got the arm secured. We'll need to keep it like this and get him right to x-ray. I don't know what kind of damage it might have if he can't feel it.”

“You're a brave little boy.” Craig said and prepped the partial stretcher that was just a long piece of reinforced fiberglass that could be put right into the ambulance. “We're going to flip you over onto your back and lightly strap you down so you don't slide out of the ambulance when we start driving.”

Harry chuckled a little and then had to suck in a few breaths to try and catch it again.

“Craig!” The woman slapped his arm. “He can barely breathe, dammit!”

“Sorry.” Craig said, cowed slightly. He liked that he made the boy smile, though.

“Police.” A man's low voice said as he entered the house. “Oh, sweet Jesus.” He said when he saw the state Harry was in.

“Arrest that man!” The woman paramedic said and pointed to Vernon, who was still holding his now bruised cheek. “Child abuse, reckless endangerment, enjoyment of a child's suffering...”

“Ma'am, that last one isn't a charge.” The police officer said.

“I want her charged with assault! She punched me!” Vernon exclaimed.

“He was trying to step on me.” Harry said and everyone froze. “She saved me.”

“I did no such thing!” Vernon blustered and slowly got to his feet.

“He threw me down the stairs to cover up that he broke my arm last night.” Harry said and Vernon paled.

“Did he, now.” The police officer said and glared at Vernon. “What was he doing when he broke it?”

“Yelled and blamed me for something. He always blames me. He grabbed it and shook me hard and my arm broke. I cried and cried all night. He didn't care. He said I would be fine in the morning and said he would throw me down the stairs to make my other owies match.”

“Other owies?” The woman asked, even though she was very afraid of the answer.

“My back. Front. Legs.” Harry said and took several breaths. “I barely feel it anymore.”

The woman's hand reached for Harry's shirt and pulled it up. They hadn't flipped him over yet, so she saw his back in its entirety. The welts from the belt and the buckle could be clearly seen. She started crying and lowered the shirt.

“I knew I... I shouldn't have looked.” The woman said and stood. “I need a minute.”

“Take your time, Melanie.” Craig said and braced Harry's arm to keep it still. She came back in a few minutes later and they managed to flip him over without Harry yelling or crying. The paramedics knew that was very bad for all of the injuries the boy had. Being numb after a fall was never a good thing.

Vernon was handcuffed and stuffed into the back of a police car. Petunia stood in shock at the sight and she didn't know what to do. The paramedics picked up the board that Harry was lightly strapped to and he spoke.

“Wait.” Harry said and looked at the officer, then he looked at his aunt. “Dudley.”

Petunia let out a shriek and took off up the stairs.

“What is it?” The officer asked.

“Dudley should be up by now.” Harry said, just as a loud cry of 'Dudley!' and sobbing came from the upstairs.

The officer nodded and quickly went up the stairs. He was only gone for a minute before he came out, his face sad. “I need to call this in. I can't handle all of this on my own.” He looked at the paramedics. “Get him checked out and write down everything that happened and what was said. This mess is...” The police officer shook his head. “Get going.”

The paramedics nodded and took Harry to the back of the ambulance. He was tempted to try and wave at all of the people he had never met, except his arms were strapped down. He only had one working arm, anyway. They loaded him inside, secured the board to the stretcher, and the man went to the front to drive.

“You're going to be okay.” Melanie said and lightly pet Harry's head.

“What... what is this feeling?” Harry asked her, confused.

Melanie started crying again and leaned forward to kiss him on the forehead. “When someone cares, they show signs of affection. Hugs, petting hair, light touches, and kisses.”

“I have someone who cares about me?” Harry asked, clearly surprised, and the paramedic's tears doubled as she did her best to comfort a little boy that had never been comforted before.

*

“I don't know why he's not screaming his head off.” One of the doctors said as he looked at the x-ray. “He has two breaks on the upper arm and a fragmentation on the lower arm.”

“He said he can't feel that arm at all.” The other doctor said. “I think we need to get x-rays all over, just in case.”

“I agree. If he's not feeling this severe of a break, minor fractures might not even show up as pain.”

“Or he's so used to it that it doesn't bother him.” Craig said from the doorway. “The police said to make sure you saw the forms I filed.”

“Ah, thank you.” One of them took the clipboard and he read it. Then he frowned. “Are you sure?”

“That's what the kid said, yeah.” Craig said. “Melanie's devastated after that little show.”

The other doctor could only nod.

“If it makes you feel better, she decked the ass that did that to Harry.”

“Did she knock him out?” One of the doctor's asked.

“Almost. He's like three hundred pounds. She did lay him out on the floor, though.”

Both doctors let out laughs. It was quite an accomplishment for such a docile and small woman to knock down a man that big with a single punch.

“What's the verdict?” Craig asked.

“We can't divulge...”

Craig held up his hand. “You know she'll be in here hounding you if I don't tell her anything.”

The doctors exchanged looks and one turned away after handing the other one the medical report.

“We're doing a full workup of x-rays. If he can take breaks like these...” He pointed to the lit up panel and Craig's face paled. “...we need to see if there are any other fractures or micro-fractures.”

“She's going to be pissed.” Craig said and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Please tell me they have medical insurance.”

“They do... except...”

“Oh for Christ's sake! They didn't even add the boy to their policies?”

“It's not even covered under their house's occupancy insurance.” The doctor said.

Craig let out several curses and stomped around the room for a full minute before he sighed. “I am going to be in so much trouble.” He said and left two quite confused doctors behind.

*

Harry opened his eyes and was confused about where he was. It wasn't until he tried to move and couldn't, that he remembered what had happened. He looked around and he was alone in a hospital room. His broken arm was wrapped in a thick white thing and he knew he wasn't moving that huge thing anytime soon.

He looked down at his chest and saw the tube sticking out of the side. He also had something thick down his throat. He started to choke on it and the machine beside him started beating rapidly. The door of the room opened and a familiar person came in and rushed to is side.

“Relax, Harry.” Melanie said and lightly touched his chest. “Breathe through your nose like you did back at the house.”

Harry listened and his choking slowed to a stop as he took several deep breaths.

“That's it. Good.” Melanie said and checked the readings. “If you're wondering what time it is, it's about eleven at night.”

Harry couldn't talk with the tube down his throat and motioned to it.

“I know it's annoying. It has to stay until we get that lung inflated and keep it that way.” Melanie said and sat down on the edge of the bed. “Are you feeling any better? Blink once for yes, twice for no.”

Harry blinked three times.

“Maybe?” Melanie guessed and he nodded. “You really do have a high pain tolerance.”

Harry blinked once.

“You know what that means?” She asked and he blinked once again. She sighed and turned to face away for a moment, then turned back. “It's going to be hard to talk to you with only yes or no questions.”

Harry blinked three times.

Melanie smiled. “Maybe, right.”

Harry glanced at his arm.

“You had a lot of damage, thanks to that trip your uncle took you on down the stairs.” Melanie said, her voice angry. “He's in jail and...” She stopped and looked at Harry's face. “He's being put away for a long time, especially if I have anything to say about it.”

Harry blinked once.

“By the way, thanks for saving my ass about that punch.” Melanie said. “I would have been suspended for cause, even if it was justified.”

Harry blinked twice.

“Officially, your story is on record. Unofficially, they threw me a little party to thank me for it.”

Harry smiled as much as he could with a tube in his mouth and blinked once.

Melanie's own smile faded. “We don't know what to do with you now.” She admitted and saw the worried look on his face.

“No! You're not going back there.” Melanie said and Harry blinked twice. “There's... well... I'm not sure how to tell you this. You're only four and...”

Harry blinked once.

Melanie sighed and put her hand on his chest. “Your cousin is gone. He choked on a sucker and died in his sleep.”

Harry blinked three times.

“It's true. It happened almost right after your uncle broke your arm. The cops think it's suspicious after finding out everything about you.”

Harry blinked twice.

“Your aunt told the police everything.” Melanie said and shook her head. “I don't know how anyone could stand aside and let their family be hurt like that! It doesn't make sense! Family is supposed to love you unconditionally...”

Harry blinked his eyes twice.

Melanie moved her hand in a small circle. “Most families. Most.” She whispered. “I... I really want to...”

“I got them!” Craig said loudly as he entered the room with a folder of papers. “I had our friends at the station check and they confirmed it! The bastard didn't have Harry under his insurance! Do you want to know why?”

“He was a cheap bastard!” Melanie spat as she turned to face him.

“Yes, he was!” Craig said, happily. “He was so cheap in fact, that he never filed or signed adoption or guardian papers!”

Melanie stared at him for nearly ten seconds before it registered. “Oh, my GOD!” She yelled and tackled him and hugged him tightly.

“Yes, we can do it.” Craig said and hugged her back. “Assuming you want to.”

“We've got access to that government stipend allocation that allows for children in high danger professions. I know we can work it enough that after the paperwork goes through, he'll be covered under our insurance!” Melanie exclaimed, her voice rising in pitch as she talked.

“Calm down. We haven't even asked him if he wants us to do it.” Craig said and took her over to the bed. He started to explain to Harry about everything they were doing and most of it went over Harry's head. He was only four, after all.

When they were done talking, Harry looked from Melanie's face to Craig's. He somehow knew that they had done a lot for him, so he answered in the only way he could.

He blinked once.

*

Seven years later, Harry Potter was growing up. Because of his new parents and their knowledge of health and fitness, he was a healthy, strong, and well adjusted child. He had several friends at his school and no one picked on him. They knew better. If anyone gave him trouble, bad things happened to them. The other kids made the connection with hurting Harry and never completed that connection with realizing that it was Harry doing it.

On the morning of July thirty-first, Harry and his parents were shocked when a common barn owl swooped into their yard and landed on the mailbox. They were in the middle of their morning exercises and stopped to stare at the very uncommon sight.

“What is it carrying?” Melanie asked when the owl turned to look at Harry and she saw something in its beak. “Is that a letter?”

Harry walked over to the bird and held a hand out to it. The bird opened its beak and dropped the letter into his hand and stayed there staring at him.

“That's impossible.” Craig said and was completely confused by everything in front of his eyes.

“Maybe.” Harry said, which made Melanie chuckle. Their running joke overriding her concern.

“Well, you might as well open it. I think that's what it's waiting for.” Melanie said.

Harry nodded and snapped the wax seal before pulling out two pieces of old parchment. He read it over quickly, having learned to speed read years ago, and handed the top parchment to Melanie.

“You aren't going to believe it.” Harry said and looked back at the owl. “Are you going to wait for my response?”

The owl gave a short hoot and tucked its head under its wing and promptly fell asleep.

“I think that was a yes.” Craig said, disbelief still on his face.

Harry agreed and turned to look at the woman that had raised him. “Mom? Are you okay?”

“This... it can't be real. Magic doesn't exist.” Melanie said. “It can't, can it?”

Harry shrugged. He knew certain things happened when he wished for it, so he didn't doubt that it could be magic. He had actually been leaning towards a physics explanation about possibilities and probabilities, then he chuckled. If magic did exist, then it changed the probabilities to whatever you wanted them to be.

“What is it, Harry?” Craig asked.

“I was just realizing that advanced science wouldn't look any different than magic to neanderthals.”

Craig looked thoughtful for a moment, then he laughed. “I object to being called a neanderthal! I'm much more handsome than that!” He pointed at his forehead. “Look! No cranial ridge!”

Harry laughed, too. He loved his father's joking manner. “Your brain's a lot bigger, too.”

“It sure is.” Craig said and put an arm over Melanie's shoulder. “Babe, are you working through it?”

Melanie opened her mouth and closed it, then frowned, then she closed her eyes and sighed.

Harry knew what that meant and walked over to her. He slipped his arms around her waist and hugged her tightly as he buried his face between her breasts. “I love you, Mom.”

Melanie opened her eyes and put an arm around her handsome little boy. “Thank you for reassuring me.” She said and leaned down slightly to kiss his forehead, like she did every night when she tucked him into bed. “What do you think of all this?”

“I'd like to at least check the place out before I tell them to shove it.” Harry said.

Craig barked a laugh and Melanie shook her head, then both of them nodded.

“Grab a piece of paper and a pen. It says to send an owl for confirmation; but, it doesn't say anything about anything else. How do we get your things? Who do we talk to? Where is this place?” Melanie asked.

“I'll add those really good questions to my response.” Harry said and let her out of the hug. He handed her the other sheet and she looked at the supplies he would need at school with disbelief.

“A cauldron? For what? A wand... oh, a wand! A magic wand!” Melanie went on and on as Harry went into the house to get a pen and paper.

*

Minerva McGonagall sat at her desk and stared at the piece of paper. It was filled with questions that even a muggleborn wizard wouldn't bother asking. Her mind whirled at the implications, because she didn't recognize the surname. It hadn't been on the student lists and she had already checked it twice. There was no Harold Rogers listed anywhere.

Minerva supposed someone was playing a joke on her or something, so she sighed and looked at the address. They did ask for someone to come as soon as possible to tell them what they wanted to know. She sighed and stood. I guess there's no time like the present.

She went to the fireplace and used the floo to go to the Leaky Cauldron, then apparated to the street the address was for. She hadn't bothered to cast a notice-me-not charm because she thought she was going to see muggles and the charm would have made them ignore her. She arrived at the house and saw two people sitting on the porch wearing the oddest clothing. When they stood up as she approached, she was scandalized at the very tight and form-fitting yoga pants on both the woman and the man.

“Excuse me.” Minerva said and coughed to clear her throat.

“Are you from that magic school?” The man asked her.

Minerva looked around to see that there was no one else around. “Please, you need to not say things like that out in the open.”

The man and woman looked at each other in disbelief before they looked back at her.

“Uhh... ma'am? You're wearing a thick winter dress and shawl from the eighteen hundreds in the middle of summer. I doubt it's us that needs to worry about letting that secret out.” Craig said as if talking to a crazy person.

“Harry!” The woman said and a young man ran around the side of the house and into view.

Minerva gasped at the sight, because the boy was the spitting image of James Potter, except for the short clipped hair and the lack of glasses. It definitely brought the boy's bright green eyes to attention.

“So that's why I didn't recognize the name.” Minerva said.

“What do you mean?” The man said and thought about the letter. “Oh, you mean the letter having the wrong name on it? Yeah, that was one of our questions. Didn't you read Harry's letter? He signed it with the correction.”

Minerva shook herself mentally. They couldn't possibly believe... “Wait a moment. Why are you taking care of him? Who are you people?”

“Melanie and Craig adopted me when I was four and my uncle tried to kill me.” Harry said and Minerva gasped.

“Harry, that was a bit overly dramatic.” Melanie said and the boy shrugged. “He's not really wrong, though. The things they did to a four year old...” She shook her head and then she smiled menacingly. “The bastard is still in prison, too. No one endangers my son and gets away with it.”

Craig and Harry both laughed a little and hugged her. “We love you too, Momma Bear!”

Melanie blushed at the nickname, then she cuffed the both of them on the back of the head. “Shut it!”

They both laughed and let her go.

Minerva wasn't sure what to make of the situation.

“His name is officially Harold James Rogers and has been for seven years. You need to update your books or records.” Craig said.

“I... I will do that.” Minerva said and looked at Harry. “So, young man. You had questions that need answers?”

*

“It's really real.” Melanie said a week later as her family and Minerva walked through Diagon Alley. “I can't believe it and I'm looking right at it.”

Craig hugged her close as they walked, mainly because of the harsh looks they were receiving. “Minerva, why are people giving us the Stink Eye?”

“The what?” Minerva asked and paused in walking.

“Everyone is looking at us like we don't belong and we want to know why.” Harry clarified.

Minerva sighed. “Some wizards look down on muggles and believe they are better than them.”

“Even more than you do?” Harry asked.

“Excuse me?” Minerva asked, surprised.

“You've done nothing but talk down to both myself and my parents as if we are incompetent. You've been polite about it; but, you were still being demeaning and dismissive in your attitude.”

Minerva stared at Harry and didn't know how to respond. No one had ever said anything like that to her before.

“Harry, I thought we discussed this.” Melanie reminded him.

“We did, and I'm sorry.” Harry said. “I was just hoping that being introduced to a whole new world would be all exciting. Instead, all I see are bigots and self-centered people that couldn't care less about anyone but themselves.”

“It's a bit early to form that opinion.” Craig cautioned.

Harry chuckled. “Even the barman wanted us to stay and eat, just so we would spend money and not just pass through. If he didn't want his pub to be a turn-style for traffic, he shouldn't have put it there.”

Craig had to laugh. “Okay, you got me there. You're right.”

Minerva was still quiet about their observations. This introduction to the wizarding world wasn't going the way it was supposed to. She had years of experience and none of her tricks were working to distract the muggles from the flaws in her world.

“First stop was the wizarding bank, wasn't it?” Harry asked and pointed down the street at a large slanted stone building. “I assume that's it?”

“Yes.” Minerva said and led them to the building.

They went inside and Harry reassured his parents that the scary goblin guards would leave them alone unless they tried to rob the place. The goblin guards grinned and showed off their sharpened teeth to make the muggles flinch and were surprised when neither of them did. The goblins had no idea what first-responders go through on the job. Seeing sharp teeth wouldn't scare them in the least.

Minerva waited in line for a teller to be available. “Mister Harry Potter is here to make a withdrawal.”

“Harold Rogers.” Harry corrected. “I'm adopted and these are my parents.”

The goblin gave him a long and calculating look. “Does Mister Rogers have his key?”

“Yes.” Minerva said and handed over a gold key.

“There's a key?” Harry asked. “Why didn't you give me that last week?”

“I didn't have it last week. The headmaster had it and...”

“Why would the school head have my vault key?” Harry asked and looked at the goblin. “Master goblin, I hope you can investigate this thoroughly or have someone do so.”

The goblin gave him another look, gave a little bark of a laugh, and hopped down from behind the counter. “We will surely investigate why someone not authorized to have a family vault key had it for ten years.” He said and waved to them. “Follow me.”

They did so and crossed the large lobby and entered a hallway that went to a dozen railroad tracks and five of them had mining carts on them.

“I'll wait here for you.” Minerva said. “I'm too old for the ride these days.”

“Oh, my god.” Melanie whispered as she climbed into the cart. “This isn't going to be like what I think it's going to be like, is it?”

Harry looked at his father and grinned just like the goblin.

Craig laughed. “Much, much worse, I suspect.”

“Hold me!” Melanie shouted and ducked her head down onto Craig's chest as the cart took off like it was shot out of a cannon. “AHHHHHH!”

“YEEEEAAAHHHH!” Harry yelled at the same time his mother screamed and lifted his hands up like he was riding a roller coaster.

“YES! IT'S MUCH WORSE!” Craig said and laughed with his son. The both of them enjoying the ride immensely.

The cart eventually came to a stop after a bunch of dips, dives, hills and turns.

Melanie hoped out and laid down on the ground. “Sweet sweet solid ground! I missed you!”

Craig, Harry, and the goblin laughed at her reaction and walked over to the vault. The goblin put the key into the lock and opened the vault door.

“MELANIE!” Craig yelled and his wife was suddenly beside him. “Look at that!”

“Oh, my god.” Melanie whispered. “It's not real, is it? It can't be.”

Harry wasn't listening and stared at the eight foot tall piles of gold, silver, and bronze coins. “How much is in here, master goblin?”

The goblin looked surprised. “You don't know?”

“I didn't know I had a vault until last week and didn't know it needed a key until today.” Harry said.

The goblin growled. “When we go back up to the ground level, we need to stop at the misuse of accounts office.”

Harry nodded and stepped into the vault, then realized he had a problem.

The goblin pointed to the wall and there were several pouches there. “There are some expanded pouches for easy money carrying. Weightless, too.”

Harry nodded at the goblin and took three of them. He opened each one and shovelled a bunch of gold coins into them. “What is the pound to galleon conversion?”

“This year it's one galleon to five British pounds. It will increase next year to seven.”

Harry nodded and made sure to take enough that they wouldn't have to come back for a while. “I'll give you my address to send me the account reports when we get to the surface.”

“I think you have a mail redirect ward on you, so your address change won't matter. It will be dealt with when we get to the accountant's office.” The goblin said.

Harry nodded again and carried the three pouches out of the vault. The four of them climbed into the cart and Melanie hid her face with her husband's help and for some reason, the ride back was just as thrilling and exciting as the ride down to the vault was.

They went down a different hallway and the goblin knocked on the office door. He waited for a moment, then entered. No words were spoken as they walked over to the desk and several goblins brought out enough chairs for Harry and his parents to sit down.

“We have an account problem.” The teller goblin said.

“Key?” The goblin behind the desk asked and the teller handed the key over. “Many uses this had.”

“Today was the first official use. Also, none of the account statements have been received by the client.” The teller goblin said and the other hissed angrily.

“Ward breakers!” The desk goblin shouted and two goblins came in and walked over to him. They spoke in whispers and the two new goblins came over to Harry.

“This won't hurt.” They said at the same time and they started chanting. Several colored glows came out of their hands and Harry glowed as well.

“Mail redirection ward. Intact. Health monitor ward. Intact. Blood protection ward. Crippled. Infant magic binding. Intact.”

“WHAT?!?” The other goblins yelled at the results.

The desk goblin sighed. “Only one of them is illegal, the blood ward. One is immoral, the mail ward. One is fine to have, the Health ward. The last one, however...”

“What will it do to him?” Melanie asked, worried.

“By itself, nothing. The problem is he's nine years past when it should have been removed.” The desk goblin said. “It is usually put in place for strong children to keep their accidental magic to a minimum. When they start to learn how to walk and talk, the ward is usually lifted and they are taught how to deal with it.”

“I was left with my relatives before then.” Harry said, having heard the story from the neighbours and the police investigation.

Melanie hugged her boy tightly and he hugged her back. “We'll get through this, I promise.”

“It will take an hour to prepare the ritual.” The desk goblin said. “We will remove all the bindings on your son and will charge the cost to whomever the magical signature belongs to.”

Melanie nodded and the goblins left. “Harry, are you okay?”

Harry turned to look into her eyes. “Why would they throw me away?”

“Wh-who?” Melanie asked.

“Whoever took me from my parents after they died in the car crash. They were magicals like me and they kicked me out of where I belonged to let me suffer...”

“Shh.” Melanie hushed him and kissed his forehead. “We'll make them pay for it. I swear. No one hurts my little boy and gets away with it. No one.”

Craig nodded and rubbed the top of Harry's head. “No one.”

Harry smiled at his parents. “I love you, Mom and Dad.”

“We love you, too.” Melanie and Craig said together and hugged him.

*

Albus Dumbledore sat in his office and was doing some of the endless paperwork that was on his desk. Holding three jobs was taxing on his old bones and he wouldn't have it any other way. Staying busy was the key to staying on top of things and he had been on top of things for decades.

*BANG! BANG!* *CRASH!* *SIZZLE!*

Albus almost jumped out of his chair at the sudden sounds and his head whipped to the side to stare at the shelf with several magical gizmos on it. Four of them were now smoking ruins and he wasn't sure how that was possible. There would usually be a whistling warning as things deteriorated and then would be cut off, not a sudden crash and nothing.

“The wards are broken.” Albus reasoned and used his wand on the remains to check. He saw it was a ritual break and sighed. He would need to send someone to check on Harry at the Dursleys and hope that whoever had captured him hadn't hurt him too badly.

Just then, his fireplace lit up. “Albus, it's Minerva.”

“Perfect timing, Minerva. I was just going to call you and...”

“You have a problem and I was chosen to tell you about it.” Minerva said and cut him off.

“What kind of problem?” Albus asked and his eyes drifted over to the ruined monitoring devices.

“There are irregularities with the Potter account at Gringotts and the goblins request that you appear before their account manager.”

Albus sighed. “What are you doing at the bank?”

“I was showing a muggle family around and was approached with the discrepancy after I presented the Potter's key for verification. That is what I told you I needed the key for.”

Albus sighed this time. “When would they like for me to visit?”

“Either today or tomorrow at your convenience. They know you're busy.”

Albus nodded. “Very well. I will see them in the morning.”

“I'll let them know.” Minerva said.

“Minerva, wait! I still have need of you.” Albus said. “I need you to go to Privet Drive at the house we left Harry at. Could you check in on him and let me know what you find?”

Minerva had a harsh look on her face. “All right, Albus. I'll go and check that house after my business with the muggle family is done.”

“Thank you, Minerva.” Albus said and the flames died. He had to get back to work and get as much out of the way before he went to the bank to smooth over any problems with the goblins. A little bribe from the problem account should get things settled quickly.

*

“How is he? I wish they would tell us.” Melanie asked, worriedly.

“He'll be fine. They aren't going to hurt a rich client.” Craig said.

“That is correct.” The desk goblin said as he entered the room and stepped aside. “Mister Rogers, please come in.”

Harry walked in and his parents gasped at him. “I know! It's cool right?”

“You eyes are glowing!” Melanie exclaimed.

“So is the rest of you.” Craig said, concerned.

“It's a side effect of having his magic suppressed for so long. His magic kept trying to compensate each time he was hurt.”

“That's why you couldn't feel your arm when we rescued you.” Melanie said as she walked over to her son, who nodded. “It's not going to hurt me or anything, is it?”

Harry chuckled and stepped close to hug her.

“Ooo, that's warm.” Melanie whispered and hugged her son back. “It's like... I can feel your love.”

“The magic grew in response to Harry's trauma to a normal level. Since it is now unbound, he has a bit more magic than his body can safely hide right now.” The desk goblin explained.

“How long will this last?” Craig asked and came over to his wife and son to hug them. “Hey, that really is warm. Like a toasty fire.”

“Thanks for comparing me to burning wood, Dad.”

“We need to stop off for some marshmallows and...” Craig started to say and the huffed when Melanie elbowed him in the gut. “Okay, no more joking.”

Melanie nodded and pet Harry's head. “Mister goblin? Any ideas?”

“We estimate an hour for the effect to fade and his body to adjust to the much larger pool of magic his body is trying to contain.” The desk goblin gave Harry a nod. “He is surprisingly adaptable.”

“You don't know the half of it.” Craig said. “I swear, even after all of the accidents and injuries I've seen as a paramedic, nothing can ever compare to the day I met my son.”

“It's a day we will all remember for the rest of our lives.” Melanie said and kissed Harry's forehead. “If we have an hour or so to wait, why don't we get some more of that account business out of the way?”

“I want the vault name changed, if possible.” Harry said. “If what you told me before is true, then anyone who has access to the Potter vault should lose access if it becomes the Rogers vault.”

The desk goblin let out a laugh. “Yes! Any duplicate keys will be voided and will dissolve. New keys will need to be issued.”

“What about my old family's things?” Harry asked. “I'm sure that if they died in a car crash, there should be something of theirs left. A house, a second car, maybe even some heirlooms.”

The desk goblin was frozen in shock. “A car crash? You think they died in a car crash?”

Harry and his parents nodded.

“While I work to get things changed over, I will enlighten you to the truth.” The desk goblin said.

*

Minerva couldn't help but look concerned at the three people that exited the account manager's office. The looks on their faces ranged from horrified to anger, the latter on Harry's face.

“How dare they lie to me about something so important!” Harry spat and then saw Minerva. “YOU! Why didn't you warn me I was bringing my parents to their potential deaths?!?”

“Wh-what?” Minerva asked, shocked.

“The account manager was kind enough to fill me in on what's been happening in the wizarding world since I was kicked out.” Harry said with a snarl. “Anyone associated with me is in EXTREME danger here!”

Minerva was too surprised at the venom in Harry's voice to say anything.

“You can take your offer of attending the best magic school in Britain and shove it where the sun doesn't shine, and I don't mean your armpit!” Harry growled.

“Harry, that's enough.” Craig said. “Let's go home.”

Harry nodded and looked back at Minerva. “I've hired the goblins to ward my home to protect them from Death Eaters and people who just want to hurt the boy-who-lived. I'll be sending the bill to Albus Dumbledore after the goblins raid his vault for what he did to me.”

Minerva gasped at finding out why the goblins had asked her to call Albus. “Harry, I'm sure that...”

“We can find our own way out, thank you.” Harry said and took his shaken mother's hand. “Come on, Mom. We can forget all about this mess and we'll never come back here again.”

“I'm afraid that is exactly what's going to happen.” Minerva said with a sigh.

“EXCUSE ME?” Harry yelled and got everyone's attention at the bank. “WHAT DID YOU SAY?”

“If you don't attend school to learn how to be a wizard, the Ministry will erase your memory and bind your magic...”

Harry's entire body glowed gold and his eyes burned with green fire. “YOU COULDN'T HAVE TOLD US THIS BEFORE COMING HERE, YOU OLD BAT?!?”

Minerva tried casting a calming charm on Harry and it fizzled before it reached him, to her surprise. “We don't have a lot of denials and...”

“I'LL BE ATTENDING ANOTHER SCHOOL IF NECESSARY! OR BETTER YET, I'LL HOMESCHOOL AND I'LL DESTROY ANY RECORDS FOR MARKS YOU HAVE EVER SEEN!” Harry yelled. “TELL ME I CAN'T DO THAT! TELL ME!!!”

Minerva sighed and shook her head. “There are other schools here and in other countries.”

“THEN LEAVE ME ALONE! STOP LYING AND TRYING TO GROOM ME TO GO TO YOUR SCHOOL! YOU ARE LIARS AND CHEATS AND KIDNAPPERS!”

“Harry, please calm down!” Minerva said and tried another spell to muffle everything. It fizzled out, too.

“I'LL CALM DOWN WHEN I CAN NO LONGER SEE YOUR WRINKLED OLD FACE!”

Minerva looked around and saw that everyone had seen and heard everything that was said. She looked at Harry's shocked parents and gave them a nod, then she quickly strode out of the bank.

Harry was breathing heavily and did his best to calm down, now that the immediate threat was gone. The glow slowly faded and his breathing evened out. He turned to his parents and saw their faces.

“I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that. I just...”

Melanie took him into a hug and held him tightly. “We love you that much, too.”

“More.” Craig said. “We don't care where you came from or how you came to us. You're our son and that's all we care about. Magic or no magic. Money or no money.” He smiled and hugged his wife and Harry. “We're a family and nothing else matters.”

Harry nodded and let them hold him for several moments, then the three of them left the bank. The first thing they did was go to the bookstore and asked about homeschooling. They bought several books about it and the clerk gave them several names of tutors that could get Harry through to his Owls. He also gave them an order form and told them to pick up an owl for deliveries.

“We'll do that. Thank you.” Craig said and they left to get an owl.

Harry felt his magic flare and turned his head to look at a snowy white owl that was staring at him. “Do you want to come home with me?”

The owl let out a hoot and floated down from the high perch and onto Harry's shoulder, which surprised his parents and the store owner.

“Well, it looks like Hedwig chose you.” The shop owner said and rang up the purchase.

“You can keep the cage and give me one of the big perches instead.” Harry said. He could somehow tell that his new owl didn't like being confined at all. He agreed with her after his years spent in a cupboard. “I also need your biggest bag of treats and the supplies to keep her healthy, too.”

Craig and Melanie approved of this and didn't even blink as Harry handed over more gold. They left with their arms full of things and went out through the Leaky Cauldron. They didn't stop to chat or to eat, to the bartender's dismay. Little did he know that he wouldn't be seeing them again and had lost a lifetime long customer, just because of his insistence that they would enjoy his food like no other.

*

“What do you mean he refused?” Albus asked, shocked.

“It's just as I've said. He is adamantly denying he needs the wizarding world and he won't be attending Hogwarts.” Minerva repeated.

Albus couldn't believe it. “No, you must have read his reactions wrong. There's no way that he would not want to learn about magic.”

Minerva shook her head at his denial. “I didn't say he wouldn't be learning magic, just that he wouldn't be doing it here.”

“Minerva, Harry needs to come to the castle. It's for his protection.”

Minerva gave him an incredulous look. “The same protection he's had the last ten years?”

“Yes, exactly.” Albus said in agreement, not realizing what he just said.

Minerva stood and glared at him. “That boy nearly died when he was four when his uncle tried to kill him!” She spat. “You've been telling me for years that he was safe and happy!”

“Minerva, I'm sure it wasn't that bad.” Albus was once again shocked by his long time friend's reaction.

“I never thought they were right. I thought they were exaggerating about your incompetence.” Minerva said and walked towards the headmaster's office door. “You don't care about that boy at all, do you?”

Albus opened his mouth to say that he did and Minerva shook her head to stop him.

“Don't deny it. If you had one shred of caring in you for the son of my favorite student, you would have checked on him at least once in ten years. You didn't and we both know what that means.” Minerva said and left.

Albus stared at the closed office door for several minutes before he resolved to rectify the situation. A personal visit by me should convince him. He thought and went to the fireplace. If not, a few little compulsion charms won't hurt to help him make the right choice. “Arabella Figg's Residence.”

The aged wizard stepped out of his spy's fireplace and wasn't surprised that she wasn't there waiting for him. He knew that she was always out scouting around and watching Privet Drive like the loyal follower she was. He left the house and used a notice-me-not charm to stop the muggles from paying attention to him.

It was a short walk to his destination and he saw Arabella walking one of her cats. “Ah, Arabella! How are you?”

The older woman gave him an odd look. “Like you care.”

“Excuse me?”

“I've seen through all of your lies.” Arabella said. “The proof was when you didn't message me back years ago after they carted Harry off to the hospital with several broken bones. If you can ignore that, I knew you would ignore everything else I sent you.”

“Arabella, I only...”

“...ignored everything. I know. You really should read some of the notes I sent you. They are quite funny.” Arabella said and walked by him. “The best one was last year when I said I was abducted by aliens and was replaced with a clone. I only sent gibberish after that and you never noticed! Ha ha!”

Albus watched her walk for a moment before he remembered why he was there. “Harry Potter!”

“Who's that? I'm just an alien clone!” Arabella said without turning around and kept laughing as she walked away.

Albus shook his head at her and continued on to Harry's house. He went up the walk and knocked on the door before he cancelled the notice-me-not spell. The door opened and a little boy stood there staring up at him.

“Hello. Could I speak to your mother, please?” Albus asked.

The boy shrugged and turned around. “MUM! There's a funny looking clown at the door! He doesn't have a big red nose, though!”

“What are you yelling, you scamp?” A woman said with a laugh as she came out of the kitchen. “A clown? Are you serious about...” Her voice trailed off at the sight of the wizard. “Who are you?”

“I was about to ask you the same thing.” Albus responded, jovially.

“I asked first.” The woman said and started to scowl. “Billy, come here away from him.”

The boy shrugged again and walked over to her.

“What do you want?” The woman asked, her hostility starting to show.

“I came here looking for the Dursleys.” Albus said and was surprised at the look of anger on the woman's face.

“Those monsters were driven out of this neighbourhood after that pig was sent to prison.” The woman said. “The real estate agent had to disclose any crimes that happened here, so we know all about them.”

“Do you know where they are?” Albus asked.

“No, and I don't care. My husband and I stripped this place down to the bare walls to clean it of the stench of those people. By all rights, this is a new house and no trace of them is here.” The woman said. “You better leave before I call the police and let them know about someone asking about those kinds of people.”

Albus reached for his wand to obliviate her and the boy of the last few minutes. Instead of that happening, the woman let out an ear-piercing scream as she dove for the floor with her son underneath her to protect him.

“HELLLLLP! I'M BEING ATTACKED!”

Albus wasn't stupid, so he didn't stick around to try and erase their memories. He turned and ran from the house as he cast a notice-me-not spell on himself. Unfortunately, there were already people looking over at the house and saw him, negating the spell as it was cast.

“Call the police! Some weirdo attacked Mrs. Coleson!” A woman shouted from a nearby house. “Get back here, you freak! We know what you look like! The police will find yooouuuuu!”

Albus ran for all he was worth down the street. He took a corner and looked to see that he was out of sight, then apparated to the Leaky Cauldron. He slumped into a chair and tried to catch his breath. He hadn't had to run like that since he was a teenager.

“Having a hard day, Albus?” Tom the barman asked.

“Three fingers of fire whiskey, please.” Albus said and took the quickly filled glass. He downed it and breathed out a small ball of fire. “Thank you, Tom.” He said and stood before handing over the payment for the alcohol. He left a bewildered barman behind and went through the floo to his office. I need to start searching for him. If he's not where I placed him, he could be anywhere.

Albus would find out soon that trying to look for someone behind goblin wards was almost as difficult as looking for someone hidden under the Fidelus Charm.

*

Two years later, the home tutor that was hired for an accelerated magic course, sat and stared at the official Owl results in front of him.

“I had doubted your claim at first, Harold. I really did.” Remus Lupin said and looked at fifteen Outstandings on the results parchment. “Are you sure you want to continue to do the Newt classes?”

“I am.” An almost thirteen year old Harold Rogers, formerly Harry Potter stated. “I told them they would regret tossing me aside and they are going to.”

Remus chuckled at the boy's attitude. He felt the same way, only he didn't have the means or capability to do the same thing. “I'll send a copy of this off to the reporting authority with your authorization to publish the results.”

“Thank you, professor.” Harry said and held a hand out to shake. “I'll see you after the summer break.”

Remus nodded and turned to the boy's parents. “You both should be very proud.”

“We are! We really are!” Melanie almost squealed as she took her son into a hug and swung him around. “He's doing both this and his normal classes! He's amazing!”

Craig nodded and pulled out a little sack from his pocket. “You know what to do with this.”

Remus nodded back and left the house. At first, he wasn't sure why Harold's parents wouldn't pay in galleons and insisted on actual gold that he had to sell to a jeweller for muggle money. Now he knew that it was because the gold conversion for muggle money was a lot higher on the muggle side.

When he converted the muggle money to the galleons he needed, he received almost five times his normal tutoring fee. He wasn't going to complain about it, not when he could easily afford the wolfsbane potion every month and had plenty of money left over to live comfortably without having to work two jobs. The Rogers even provided all of the books and materials he needed for free, which made him quite happy.

Remus also didn't worry about the full moon, because they left scheduling the tutoring times at his discretion. In fact, this had been the best two years of his life. With Harold's agreement for an additional year of tutoring and the price of gold going up again on the muggle side of things, he would be able to save up a considerable nest egg.

The werewolf apparated to Diagon Alley and went to the post office to complete his task. The clerk stared at the list of Owl scores and Remus was tempted to let him think it was his, then changed his mind.

“My prize student.” Remus said and sealed the records and the permission slip. “Send this to the result reporting authority for the board of education, please.”

“You're going to publish it?” The clerk asked, surprised.

“At the student's request.” Remus said. “That boy is going to rub it in everyone's faces.”

The clerk laughed. “He won't have to. Once everyone sees them...” He shook his head and attached the letter to his fastest owl. “...they'll be wondering where the fifteen year old is attending.”

Remus let the owl take off before he responded.

“He's home schooled. By me.” Remus said and walked to the door. “Oh, and he's not thirteen yet.”

“WHAT?!?” The clerk yelled.

Remus laughed as he left and closed the door. He was looking forward to seeing everyone's reaction when they found out the same thing when school started in the fall.

*

No one could believe it. It wasn't possible. You couldn't get perfect marks on Owls. It was unheard of. There were also too many. The standard courses consisted of only twelve subjects and getting fifteen Owls wasn't possible. Or so they thought. If you asked any self-study aficionado, you would learn that there were lesser known subjects that could be independently studied. It was just that almost no one would because it was too much work.

Hermione stared at the newspaper and she couldn't understand why she was never given the same option. She thought it over and all of the questions she did ask before agreeing to come to Hogwarts, and Professor McGonagall hadn't told her anything about being allowed to hire tutors instead. She let anger fill her and she rose from the breakfast table to glare at her head of house.

Minerva could practically feel the anger from the girl and sighed. “Excuse me. I need to put out a fire before it explodes.”

“Good luck.” Professor Flitwick said and watched as his colleague went to her doom. Everyone in the school knew that Hermione was very smart. She was also bored and hated that her extra credit work amounted to nothing, because the school didn't have a grade advancement program. She was stuck in her current year placement and that was that.

Everyone saw the bubble of magic appear around the two and they tried to hold in their laughter as Hermione waved her arms, gesturing wildly, and was clearly yelling. A few people didn't bother hiding it and laughed as the stern teacher everyone knew not to cross, slumped her shoulders in defeat and barely spoke.

It took almost ten minutes before the show was over and a very disgruntled Hermione stomped her feet as she left the Great Hall.

“That went better than I thought it would.” Flitwick said to Minerva as she sat back down at the head table.

“She's sending an owl to her parents to get them to come and get her.” Minerva said, sadly.

“Excuse me?” Albus turned to look at her. “What's going on?”

“She's going to tell her parents about us coercing and tricking her into come here and then forcing her to be as dumb as the other students.” Minerva said and looked down at her barely touched food. “She wants to sue for entrapment and for intentionally making the curriculum too simple for simpletons.”

Albus wasn't worried. “Did you tell her that she can't withdraw from school without having her wand snapped and mind erased?”

“Oh, yes. That was the first thing she's going to sue us over. I believe she compared it to muggle-baiting.”

Everyone at the head table sucked in a breath at that.

“The thing is, I believe she is right. We dangle the promise to learn as much magic as they want, then don't teach them what they want. We also never tell them that they could have their minds erased until after they refuse to cooperate.” Minerva said. “When she sues us and the press hears about it...”

“You mean if.” Albus said and she shook her head.

“No, Albus. When. She won't listen to reason at all.”

“I'll handle this.” Albus said and stood.

“Like you handled Harry Potter?” Minerva asked and the entire hall fell silent. “You lost him years ago because of your ego. Will you now obliviate a little girl because she's not happy with us for lying to her?”

Albus could feel all of the eyes on him like a heavy weight. “Minerva, that wasn't what I was going to do.”

“No? You'll use compulsion charms then, won't you?” Minerva asked and saw it in his eyes. “No, Albus. If you do that and Miss Granger changes her mind, I'll go to the school board myself and everyone in the Great Hall are my witnesses.”

Albus sighed and sat down. “You're making a mistake.”

“The latest of many.” Minerva said and stood. “I'm not feeling so well. Excuse me.”

Everyone watched her leave the Great Hall and no one knew what to say about what happened, not even Snape, and he always had a snarky comment ready.

*

Less than a year later, Remus sat at the kitchen table and laughed at the Newt results in his hand. “Somebody pinch me, please!”

Melanie happily took up the task and pinched the man's arm.

“OW! Ha ha!” Remus said and rubbed his arm as he looked at Harold. “I don't know why I still doubted you, even after teaching you everything I know.”

Harry grinned at the man and held his hand out to shake. “It's too bad you can't teach the masteries.”

Remus nodded and shook the hand. “I could teach it for Defense; but, you know why they won't credit it to me.”

“That's one of the first things I'll fix when I take over.” Harry said and Remus laughed.

“I look forward to it, my young friend.” Remus said and Craig handed him a larger pouch than usual.

“That's a bonus for all you've done for my boy.” Craig said and shook Remus' hand. “Thank you.”

“It was my pleasure. Really.” Remus said and turned to shake Melanie's hand as well, only to get a surprised hug instead. “Mrs. Rogers...”

“It's okay. You're safe for another week at least.” Melanie said and let him go. “Now that your work is done, I'm sure you'll find a nice little piece of tail to cuddle up with.”

“Mel!” Craig fake gasped and Melanie giggled.

Remus was too surprised to say anything. Did she just tell me to go out and shag another werewolf?

“It was very nice meeting you, Mr. Lupin.” Harry said. “If there's anything else I need, I'll contact you as soon as possible.”

Remus nodded and left before he could figure out if he needed to say anything in response. He shut the door and stood there, wondering what he was going to do now.

“Mel, I can't believe you said that! You naughty girl!” Craig's voice said and Remus heard kissing.

“Geez, Mom and Dad! Get a room!” Harry's voice said and then there was more kissing. “No! Not me! Gerroffme! Get off!”

Melanie's laughter filled the air and then there were running footsteps.

Remus chuckled as he walked over to the road. They're a great family. He thought and did the same thing he did the year before. He brought a copy of the results to the owl post office and the permission form to have them published. I wonder if this will make an even bigger splash.

The clerk was a different one from the year before, so Remus didn't tease the man with the results. He would find out the same way as everyone else when the fall term started.

*

The Quiddich World Cup happened a month later and a certain student had been given two top box tickets to attend. In a stroke of genius, the young man had arranged for his old tutor to trade them for three much lower seats and a lot of galleons in exchange.

Harold's parents loved seeing the magical world's version of the world cup. Because they wore wizard robes, no one questioned them or asked them who they were. There were thousands of other people there and two muggles didn't stand out at all.

“That was brutal.” Craig said as they walked down the exit stairs of the stadium. They had stayed inside for an hour to avoid the rush. “I knew wizards were a hearty bunch, thanks to our boy here. I just didn't think taking a hundred mile an hour heavy ball to the face was a survivable experience.”

Melanie nodded. “With all the advanced healing he can do, I doubt we'd have a job if the wizarding world let that aspect of their secrets out.”

Harry chuckled. “You know it's all highly regulated. If you try to sneak potions into the normal world, it's a two year sentence if you're caught.”

Melanie put an arm over her son's shoulder. “It's the cure for the common cold and we can't tell anyone! That's not fair!”

Both Craig and Harry laughed as they went outside the nearly empty stadium and looked at the huge fields of wizards in their tents.

“Just look at that. I mean, how are they keeping all of this hidden from muggles?” Melanie asked.

“Very carefully.” A male voice said from of to the right.

“Are you security?” Harry asked the red robed man and he nodded. “Auror?”

“Good guess.” The man said and tapped the badge on the side of his robes. “We patrol and cover things up when possible. This lot are a bit too rambunctious to really suppress for long, so we let people have their fun and clean up the mess.”

Harry nodded and put his arms around the waists of his parents to lead them away. When they were far enough away, he spoke. “I told you that they didn't have a lot of sense.”

Craig had to laugh. “I completely agree, son. A quick calming charm over the area would settle them down and keep things from getting too rowdy.”

“You could have told that man that.” Melanie suggested.

“Only if you wanted to be cursed for trying to tell an Auror how to do his job.” Harry said and his mother nodded.

The three of them walked by one of the more subdued areas to get back to the portkey point when an explosion happened off to the right and several people screamed in fright. A second later, they screamed in terror and everyone started to run.

“Death Eaters! RUN!” Someone yelled before a group of people wearing dark robes and white masks came into view. They were using their wands to light the nearby tents on fire and the occupants scrambled to get out of them and flee.

“Oh, no! People are being trampled!” Melanie exclaimed and ran towards the people running.

“Mel! NO!” Craig yelled and ran after her.

Harry stood there in shock for a moment at the sight of his mother running towards evil wizards to save the stupid people running away, when those same people could easily be fighting instead. Then it hit him.

His muggle mother was running towards destructive spells!

Harry started to glow and his eyes burned with green fire as his wand snapped into his hand. He cast a haste spell on himself and ran after his parents. He easily caught up to them trying to help someone who had actually been trampled. He cast Disillusionment on his parents and the patient, cast a quick healing spell on the hurt man, and he turned to look at the death eaters that were approaching.

“You dare threaten my parents?” Harry growled and lifted his wand. “Bombarda Maxima!”

The death eaters shook their heads and the two in the lead cast shields to protect themselves. They were stupid, just as Harry predicted, and didn't block where he had cast the spell at the ground in front of them.

*BOOOM!*

The two shields shattered as the men were blasted from underneath and neither of them were prepared to block the second and silent duplicate spell. Or the next. Or the next.

Harry spread his spells across the area where the fallen death eaters were and there must have been a silence spell cast among them to stop others from hearing them, because all of the explosions were silent as the ground, bodies, and clothing were torn to shreds from the overpowered spells. The dust in the air was blocking sight now, so Harry swiped his wand across his front and a quick gust of wind blew the dust to the side.

“Ugghhh.” Several of the bodies on the ground said. He had missed them and used cutting curses to slice their jugulars and femoral arteries in their thighs. Another quick curse, Bloodletting this time, made them bleed out in seconds.

Harry shook his head at them and then went over to his parents. He dispelled their disillusionment and saw that they had stabilized the man. Harry used his magic to help tend to the man some more and secured the bandages.

“Thank you. Thank you.” The man whispered. “Everyone else ran...” He fell unconscious before he could say anything else.

“Prop him next to the tent. We need to leave.” Harry said, wisely.

“Good idea.” Craig said and they left the man there before they walked as fast as they could away from the area. With all of the panic and running by everyone else, the place was almost deserted. Word had spread quickly about the attack and everyone abandoned their belongings and ran from the threat.

“Definitely idiots. They outnumbered the death eaters ten to one just where we were. All it would take is for them to stand up for themselves and the bad guys wouldn't last a minute.” Harry grumbled.

“Someone did stand up for them and the bad guys barely lasted thirty seconds.” Craig said and Harry felt his mother's arm go over his shoulders. “That's my boy.”

“I didn't do it for the sheep.” Harry said and looked up at his mother. “I did it for my parents. No one hurts my parents.”

Melanie kissed his forehead and they eventually made it to the portkey area. It was packed with people desperately trying to leave, so they sat off to the side and Harry cast disillusionment on them. They waited until almost no one was left before Harry ended the spells and they took a portkey to a nearby suburb where their house was.

*

Sole Witness of Massacre Declares His Saviors Were Heroes

This reporter had an exclusive interview with the man that had been trampled during the Death Eater attack at the Quiddich World Cup. He asked that his name be withheld for safety reasons.

“I thought I was dead.” The man said. “I was laying there with a broken leg and a head wound as the death eaters walked towards me. They were casting blast and flame curses at the tents as they walked and I thought that was it.”

“What happened then?” I prompted.

“The prettiest woman I had ever seen told me everything was going to be all right and started examining my wounds. A few second later, a man was there as well. They pulled my leg straight and started wrapping cloth pieces around it and my head.”

“What? Why didn't they use their wands to heal you?”

“They said in the rush they left them behind.” The man said. “In fact, I did, too. It burned up in my tent.”

“I'm sorry to hear that.” I consoled the sad man. “Then what happened?”

“Another man came over and cast disillusion spells on us. I know, because it felt like someone cracked an egg over my head and it rolled down.”

“That is exactly what the spell feels like when cast.” I said.

“I waited to see him do it to himself, to be safe, you know? Only, he didn't. He turned to the death eaters that were approaching and he said that no one threatens his parents.”

“Oh, my! Did they kill him?” I asked.

“No, he cast a huge blasting curse at them. I thought their shields would hold, then the blast blew up from the ground and knocked a few of them down. Then... then...”

“What happened?” I prompted.

“He kept casting. He didn't stop for nearly a minute. He covered the whole area with huge blasting curses. When the dust was too thick, he swiped his wand and the dust was flung aside. I've never seen anything like it.”

“That's... an unlikely story.” I said, hoping the witness had more for me.

“I saw his wand move several times and the gurgles from the ones that were still alive. They didn't stay that way.” The man said. “I don't know how he did it and I don't care. He came over to me and used several high level healing spells on me to fix my leg and my head.”

“What happened then?”

“He finally disillusioned himself and I thanked them, then I must have passed out. When I woke up, I was propped up next to a tent and they were gone.” The man said and smiled. “I want them to know, whoever they are, they are my heroes. I've never seen anyone that wasn't an Auror stand up to death eaters. Not even the dark mark in the air scared me, because I knew that whoever cast it had no idea it was the death eaters that were dead!”

I sat there and listened to the man laugh about that. He actually laughed. After a few more inconsequential questions and failed attempts to get a good description of any of the three saviors, I left him to enjoy his happier life and to buy a new wand.

*

“He did it again!” Hermione gasped while sitting at the kitchen table and reading the latest edition of the paper. “Fifteen O's on his Newts! Who is this guy?!?”

Hermione's parents, Dan and Jean Granger, could only shake their heads at their daughter. She had been very successful with her lawsuit and was now being tutored at home, thanks to several favors and a few ads in the newspapers in both the muggle and wizarding worlds. It was all being paid for with the money she had won, too.

There was a knock on their front door and Dan came back a minute later with her tutor.

“Professor Lupin!” Hermione gasped and shot to her feet. “Did you see today's paper?”

Remus chuckled as he sat at the table to have a coffee, at Jean's insistence. “Are you talking about the Quiddich cup or the Newt results?”

“Do you have to ask?” Dan asked and sipped his coffee.

“No, I was just making polite conversation.” Remus said and looked at the girl across the table. “Please sit and finish eating. We'll start your first lesson in about ten minutes.”

Hermione squinted her eyes at him for a moment, then she sat down in a huff and put the paper aside. She started eating again and quickly finished off her breakfast. Before she could start questioning him, he held a hand up.

“Before you get going with the barrage, the answer is yes. I taught him.” Remus said.

Hermione gasped and covered her mouth. “No! Really? NO! I don't believe it!”

Dan and Jean had to laugh at her antics.

“He's a prodigy unlike any I have ever heard of.” Remus said and gave Hermione a stern look. “I will be assessing your knowledge and retention for this first week. After that, I'll form a custom lesson plan tailored specifically for you to learn at your peak efficiency.”

“I want his plan! Please!” Hermione begged.

“Honey, you can't. You know that everyone is different.” Dan said and walked over to touch her shoulder. “You're smart. Very smart. Let Remus do his job and perhaps you might do as well as this other fellow.”

“I doubt I'll have two record breaking students in a row.” Remus said and saw Hermione's slightly sad face. “Although, I sincerely doubted Harold's results for both his Owls and his Newts until I saw them.”

Hermione's face lit up. “It's okay if you doubt mine, too!”

Jean had to turn away to cover her laugh. Her daughter had no idea what she was saying because she was too eager to be compared to the other boy.

“Well, we should get to it.” Remus said and Hermione was up and out of the kitchen in a flash.

“She'll be in the den and probably jumping in front of the desk.” Dan said and led the man to the right room. “I told you.” He whispered when they saw Hermione doing just like he said.

*

On October thirty-first, inside Hogwarts castle, a very special event was being held. The Tri-Wizard Tournament. Three schools had to compete in three tasks after their champions had been chosen. The choosing went off without a hitch for the three chosen champions, until it was almost over. The cup lit once more and Harry Potter's name came out of the goblet.

“YOU OLD BASTARD!” Minerva's voice cut through the Great Hall and suddenly Albus Dumbledore was smashed in the face when the stand that the Goblet of Fire was on, created a fist and punched him. He was flung across the hall and bounced three times before he came to a stop by the doors, his face a bloody mess. The stand reformed and the cup hadn't been disturbed in the least.

No one in the hall moved as they saw their very angry Transfiguration professor stalk across the hall to stand over the prone old man on the floor.

“I'm calling the Aurors immediately and you are going to be charged with endangering Harry Potter! Again!” Minerva growled and then kicked him in the side. “I'll see you hang for this!”

“Minerva! Calm down!” Professor Flitwick exclaimed and tried to move her away from her victim.

“What kind of Leader of the Light are you?” Minerva said and then literally spat on him. “You filth! You... you... I don't know what to call you!”

“Minerva...” Albus groaned. “...it wasn't me.”

“I know! Just like I know you know exactly who did it, you lying bastard!” Minerva said and waved her wand at him. The stones he lay on changed into iron clasps and held him in place. Another swipe of her wand had his wand float to her.

“No. No, you... what have you done?” Albus asked and stared at her in shock.

“I'm removing your stolen power, you old fool.” Minerva said and smiled as she shuffled the wands in her hand and put her own wand away. Her smile changed to a predators before she held his wand up and snapped it.

“NOOO!” Albus yelled and then fell unconscious as he let his injuries knock him out.

“Minerva! That was uncalled for!” Flitwick exclaimed and stared at her.

“I should have done that years ago.” Minerva said and reached down to pick up the piece of paper with Harry Potter's name on it. “There was no physical way for this to get into the goblet without Albus' approval. He wanted Harry here and under his control, no matter what it cost.”

No one said anything as she tucked the paper into a pocket and calmly walked out of the Great Hall. They all sat there, even the teachers, and looked at the bloodied old man that was shackled to the floor. No one tried to help him or even called for Madam Pomfrey to tend to him, even though she was right there at the head table.

Half an hour later, Amelia Bones came in with a squad of Aurors. “Immobilize everyone. No one leaves until I'm done. If any aren't here, track them down and bring them here. The ghosts, too.”

“Yes, ma'am.” The Aurors said and spread out casting the proper charms.

“So, Minerva finally had enough of your manipulations.” Amelia said to the still unconscious Albus on the floor. “It's about time she saw some sense.” She looked around at the Great Hall and was glad that no one tried to run or fight. She smiled at that. “It looks like I've got a lot of work ahead of me.”

*

Death Eater supported by Dumbledore! Harry Potter forced to be the fourth Champion!

That's right. You heard it here first. Albus 'too many names' Dumbledore allowed a known death eater (name withheld upon request) into the school to teach our children. While there, they colluded to hoodwink the Goblet of Fire into adding a fourth school to the tournament and submitted Harry Potter's name as the only champion. With his name appearing in a magical contract, he must compete.

This was just the latest attempt in the old headmaster's schemes to try and get Harry Potter to attend his school. Dumbledore has had people searching for years to find the elusive young man to bring him back, even though he had never been there to begin with.

The start of his story was a tragic one, as you all know. It didn't end with the death of his parents, however. No, he was kidnapped by Dumbledore and given to his abusive muggle relatives. After some digging, I recovered the muggle medical records. Let me tell you, it was not a good read. The things that poor boy went through as a toddler turned my stomach.

For legal reasons, I can't go into the details. Just know that at one point, he had many broken bones and was rescued after a long hospital stay.

After that, it seems Harry Potter disappeared. This was great for him, considering what his life had been like until that point. This changed when he came of schooling age of eleven and received his letter...

*

“Is this true?” Hermione asked Remus as they sat at the breakfast table.

“They left a lot out.” Remus said and held a hand up to stop another barrage of questions. “You know I can't talk about another student like that. Those aren't my secrets to tell.”

Hermione sighed and read the article again. “If he wasn't such a recluse, I would ask to meet him.”

Remus raised his eyebrows at her.

“What?” Hermione asked.

“You want to meet him? Your intellectual rival? Your staunch competition?”

Hermione huffed. “He's my age and the both of us would have been held back from learning properly if we stayed in school.” She said and pushed the paper aside. “Did you bring the muggle school books I asked for?”

“Of course. The full set.” Remus said and waved at the kitchen door. “After you.”

Hermione jumped up and ran from the room. A lightly laughing Remus followed her.

“I wonder if she'll ever outgrow that.” Dan asked and sipped his coffee.

“I doubt it.” Jean said. “She's too much like me.”

“Hey, I am not going to look at my daughter and think 'gorgeous'!” Dan said in mock outrage.

Jean snorted and then laughed. “Finish your coffee. We need to get to work, daddy.”

Dan shivered. “Don't even joke about that. Please.”

Jean leaned in and gave him a kiss. “I'll make it up to you on the way to work.”

Dan knew exactly what that meant and he hopped up and ran out of the kitchen like Hermione did.

“Maybe she's more like you than I thought.” Jean whispered and followed her excited husband out to the car.

*

The three champions stood in the tent while they waited for the event to start. Victor Krum, Fleur Delacour, and Cedric Diggory. They didn't know where the fourth champion was. In fact, no one did. It had been almost a month since his name came out of the goblet and no one had heard from him.

“He's going to lose his magic.” Ludo said as he entered the tent with the other judges and saw only three of them.

“You're saying that like he would care.” Karkaroff said. “The coward probably doesn't even own a wand.”

“Quiet, you!” Minerva McGonagall spat and whipped her wand out to point it at him. “If you don't stop constantly making your snide comments, I'll transfigure all of your hair into steel wool!”

The men in the tent visibly cringed at having steel wool anywhere near their sensitive parts.

“Well, I don't see him. We have to assume that he's a no-show.” An unnamed ministry official said. “Get on with it, Ludo.”

Ludo nodded and gave the explanation about facing something to retrieve a golden egg. “Ladies first.”

Fleur reached into the bag and pulled out a model of the Welsh green dragon with a three on it. Cedric pulled out the Swedish short-snout with a one on it and Victor pulled out the Chinese fireball dragon with a two on it.

“Well, you have your...” Ludo stopped when the bag moved. The last dragon model, a Hungarian Horntail with a four on it, floated out and then disappeared. “AH!”

“Just because you can't see something, doesn't mean it doesn't exist.” A voice said from all round them.

“Harry?” Minerva asked, tentatively. “It was all Albus Dumbledore's fault. I had him charged and removed from the school and his government positions. Unfortunately, he's a right bastard and wiggled his way out of prison time. Again.”

A chuckle came from the air. “I'm glad there's more than one wolf among the sheep.”

“I have to warn you that he is here in attendance and will try to get to you. I tried to have him banned from coming here and the Minister vetoed it. He also brought Albus as his guest.”

The voice was quiet for a moment. “Thank you. I will deal with it.”

“Deal with it? You're only fourteen!” Karkaroff spat. “What other nonsense are you going to... AHHH!”

“I warned you.” Minerva said and everyone saw the Bulgarian headmaster's hair was now steel grey.

Another chuckle from the air came. “I'm starting to like you, madam.”

“Get on with it.” The ministry official said and left the tent before he said something to cause the madwoman's ire.

“Yes. Well.” Ludo looked around to try and see the invisible occupant and shrugged. “When the cannon sounds, you will do your tasks in order. Mr. Diggory is first, since his model has the number one on it.” He said and tucked the empty bag into a pocket. “Good luck.”

With that, the other judges left as well.

“Are you really Harry Potter?” Cedric asked the air. There was no answer.

“If not, judges are right. He will lose magic.” Victor said in stilted English.

Fleur huffed. “We have nothing to fear from a little boy that is too scared to even show himself.”

There was still no answer from her blatant taunt to reveal himself. A minute later, the cannon went off and Cedric left the tent. It was a tense time inside the tent for the next half an hour as Cedric did his best to complete his task. Ludo's constant comments were annoying, especially since the champions couldn't see what was happening.

The cannon went off and Victor went next. It was only twenty minutes this time and the cannon went off again. Fleur glanced around and didn't see anyone, scoffed at the air, and moved to leave the tent.

“Only an idiot would give up an advantage.” The voice said when she reached the exit.

“What advantage?” Fleur asked.

“None of you have any clue what I look like or what I can do.” The voice said with a chuckle.

Fleur shook her head. “What can a mere child do?”

“A lot more than your degrading words imply, you french tart.”

“Why you!” Fleur turned to curse him and saw no one there.

“You're late for your task.” The voice said with a laugh.

“Putain de baise!” Fleur spat and ran from the tent.

The voice laughed and waited another twenty-five minutes before the cannon went off again. The flap opened and he stepped out into a canvas hallway. He followed it to the end and stepped out into the arena.

“It's time to show these idiots who they are dealing with.” Harry said and ended his disillusionment.

The entire arena gasped when a moderately tall fourteen year old young man appeared in front of them. Shouts of disbelief came from nearly everyone, because he looked nothing like they thought. He didn't have thick glasses, or messy hair, or a thin face. He didn't even have a scar on his clearly seen forehead.

Harry stood proudly in front of his audience and pointed his wand at his throat. “Sonorus. Among you is an idiot of such high calibre that he really thought he could bring me back here against my will. He's been trying for years to get me under his thumb and to control me. All of his efforts have been for naught.”

“You're here, aren't you?” Someone shouted.

“Not under his own power. He had to resort to magical enslavement by the Goblet of Fire to coerce me into appearing here. I am not staying, nor will I do more than the required tasks at their appointed times.”

“I still got you here.” Albus said and stood. “Now that you're here, you won't be able to leave.”

Harry pointed his wand at the old wizard. “Let's see if you'll say the same thing when my task is done, old man.”

Albus waved at the dragon in the enclosure. “Go ahead. Show us all why you need to be here in the wizarding world. Show everyone that I was right to pursue you for all these years.”

“I'll do better than that, you fool. I'll show everyone why you are at fault for making me come here!” Harry spat and turned his wand towards the dragon. “FIENDFIRE!”

“NOOOO!” Nearly everyone yelled, especially the dragon handlers and the judges.

Albus paled as the cursed fire burst out of Harry's wand with such force that they all felt the heat through the protective barrier. The fire was filled with magical beasts as it travelled across the arena and when it reached the dragon, a matching dragon made of fiendfire emerged and lunged at the nesting mother.

An ear-piercing howl of pain and anguish came from the Hungarian Horntail as it was slowly consumed. Because of its naturally magic resistant scales, it took several minutes for it to finally expire and then for the remains to start burning away to ash.

“Will the protective barrier hold?” Minister Fudge asked nervously and the fire built up and the fiendfire animals clawed at the sides of the arena to get at the frightened spectators. “Please tell me it will hold!”

“Teachers! Aurors! Reinforce the barrier!” Minerva shouted and stood.

“There's no need for that.” Harry's calm voice said as the arena full of fire animals started to wink out of existence. It took another few minutes until all that was left was the fiendfire dragon. “Did you know that Fiendfire isn't classed as Dark magic?”

“WHAT?!?” Dozens of voices yelled in shock, including the Minister of Magic.

“It's true. It's actually used as a land clearing tool when wizards and goblins don't want to waste time doing it by hand.” Harry said and walked over to the fiendfire dragon. “It's just too scary for lesser minds to comprehend and everyone assumed it was Dark. That and all the destruction it causes.” He said with a chuckle and reached up to pet the fiendfire dragon's snout without burning his hand or losing his fingers. “Thank you, my friend.”

The dragon let out a low growl, as if purring, and dissolved into nothing.

Harry walked over to the golden egg that was the only thing left in the arena. He picked it up to prove he completed the task, then he crushed it between his hands. “I'll see you in February.”

A second later, he disappeared in a flash of an emergency portkey, leaving behind only his footprints in the pile of ash that used to be the fiercest dragon in the world.

The minister turned to the old man beside him. “You did this! He blames you!”

Albus sighed and didn't respond as he sat back down.

“I told you that you shouldn't have fought to keep Dumbledore out of prison.” Amelia Bones said from behind them and waved at the members of the press that were just starting to recover from the shock. “It's too bad that everyone already knows that you're responsible for it, isn't it Minister Fudge?”

Fudge paled as the reporters started to fight through the crowds to get to him.

“Do you regret publicly proclaiming support for Dumbledore now?” Amelia asked and stood to greet the press warmly.

“Get me out of here!” Fudge shouted and ran towards his Auror guards. He didn't look back once.

“How are we supposed to mark that?” Ludo asked and stared at the empty arena. Even all the large boulders that they had brought in for the event were piles of ash.

“I don't believe it matters. He completed the task as required.” Minerva said.

“He destroyed everything!” Karkaroff exclaimed.

“No, just everything inside the arena.” Minerva said. “The rules state the champions can use any and all means necessary to compete.”

“They did not mean this.” Madam Maxine said and waved at the arena.

Minerva shrugged for the first time in her life. “I'm giving him a ten, just for his mastery of Fiendfire. Not even Albus could do that when he had his powerful wand.”

The other judges had to think about that.

*

Fleur stared at the ash covered arena and was completely in shock. She had easily heard Harry's magically amplified words and had rushed out of the medical tent to watch his task, despite Madam Pomfrey's protests. Her mind couldn't comprehend what she had witnessed.

It wasn't possible. Harry was only fourteen! There was no way for a boy to control fiendfire to that extent. Releasing it, possibly. Using it so effectively and then ending it? No, it wasn't possible. She couldn't make her mind make sense of it. She went back into the tent and laid down on the bed she had been assigned.

“Did he really let loose fiendfire? It wasn't a trick or something?” Cedric asked and she didn't respond.

“I not hear screaming anymore. Is everyone dead?” Victor asked.

“Just the dragon.” Fleur whispered and closed her eyes and hugged herself as she curled into a ball on her side. That little boy killed a dragon with fire and I insulted him. Twice.

Cedric and Victor saw the french champion shiver and hug herself even tighter. They didn't ask why.

*

The press had a field day. The scandal, the horror, the spectacle. It was all right there for them to feast on and they did. Articles upon articles were written and spread all over the wizarding world. Soon, everyone had heard about it and everyone had an opinion. Some were good, some were bad, and all of them were strong and loud.

Some called for Harry to be declared a dark lord. Some called for him to be expelled from the tournament. Some even called for him to be elected to the Ministry of Magic, with the claim that the wizarding world needed someone like him to fix everything that Fudge had messed up.

No one could find him, however.

*

The Yule Ball happened on Christmas Day. Despite it being a tradition of the tournament, it wasn't an event that the champions were required to participate in. Even though everyone knew that, they all hoped that Harry would show up. Some for pure reasons, others for less than pure reasons.

Harry didn't show up, much to their dismay. He wasn't the only one, though. Fleur Delacour, the French champion, hadn't been seen since the first task and had stayed in her room when she wasn't taking classes. She didn't eat with anyone and took her meals in her room, alone. She barely spoke or interacted with anyone and no one knew what was wrong with her.

*

It was February twenty-fourth and it was cold. There was still snow on the grounds as well. The students were gathered in the stands beside the docks on the black lake. The three champions stood there in the starting positions and waited for Ludo's speech about what they had to retrieve from the bottom of the lake.

Just then, Harry Potter faded into view in the fourth spot. “Who's my hostage?”

Ludo jumped at the sudden appearance. “Uh... um... Minerva McGonagall.”

Harry frowned. “You put an old woman at the bottom of a lake in the middle of February?”

“Well, she would be what you would miss most here.” Ludo said. “We couldn't find anyone else and she volunteered.”

Harry sighed. “I'll accept that explanation. Can I start now?”

Ludo nodded.

Harry took out his wand to point it at the lake. “Glacius Maxima!”

The blast of freezing cold froze the lake in front of the docks and the sounds of ice cracking and forming echoed through the air as the ice seemed to spread for a hundred feet. Everyone watched as Harry casually walked across the ice and kept casting the spell. The other three champions, dressed for swimming, had no idea what to do now. The audience had no such problem and ran out onto the ice to watch what Harry was going to do.

“Bombarda Maxima!” Harry said and a blast of ice and snow flew up into the air from the center of the now ice covered lake. “Abripuit Gurgitem!”

They all watched as the water swirled in a circle and formed a whirlpool that seemed to tunnel down at an angle to the bottom of the lake. After a couple of minutes, the center of the merman village was revealed and the four hostages fell to the now exposed ground, because they were no longer held up by the water around them.

“Glacius Maxima!” Harry said and the angled whirlpool froze in place, as did all of the merpeople that had been there guarding the hostages.

“Merlin's balls.” Someone groaned at the fish people being encased in ice.

Harry cast sticking charms on his shoes and walked down the angled ice, rather than slide down it. That would have been faster and also more dangerous, so he took his time instead and reached his destination without incident. He found four wet and very cold people.

“I am here to rescue you.” Harry said and used his wand to slice the seaweed tying the old woman's ankle to the stone, then cast a very strong and overpowered warming charm on her and the other three hostages. “Please allow me to escort you out of here, Madam McGonagall.”

Minerva smiled at the young man and nodded as she offered her arm. A moment later, he had cast the sticking charms on her shoes and they casually walked back up the inclined tunnel.

“This is an odd way to use transfiguration.” Minerva observed as they walked.

“I froze the top of the lake first, then I made an angled whirlpool and froze that to get to you.” Harry explained. “It wouldn't have worked as fast if the water wasn't as cold as it is.”

“Yes, summer weather would make you use much more magic to achieve the same result.” Minerva said. “Despite the loss of life, this is quite the accomplishment.”

“What loss of life?” Harry asked as they reached the top.

“The merpeople.” Minerva responded.

“You can thaw them out or leave them to thaw on their own, which they will eventually. They are exothermic and are in a forced hibernation right now. No harm done.”

Everyone stared at him and didn't know what to say.

“When's the next task?” Harry asked.

“June twentieth.” Minerva informed him.

“I'll see you then.” Harry said and disappeared after the flash of an emergency portkey.

Cedric and Victor exchanged looks, scrambled to put their shoes on, then jumped down into the icy tunnel. They slid down most of the way and jumped jagged pieces of ice when necessary. They reached the bottom and Cedric hugged his girlfriend before cutting the seaweed with a knife. He transfigured his own and his girlfriend's shoes to have ice spikes on the bottom and the two of them tried to ascend as fast as they could.

Victor was just as fast cutting his girlfriend free and it was her idea to use climbing gear, which would allow them to move quickly. It took them longer to make it and get ready, then the two of them raced up the incline.

Fleur stood at the top of the tunnel and could only stare down at the impossible sight. She had no idea that something like that could be done. Her mind went back to the first task and how that had ended, and shivered.

“Miss Delacour.” Minerva McGoagall whispered to her. “Harry used the simple solution of sticking charms on our shoes.”

Fleur blinked her eyes at the old woman, who smiled.

“Your sister is waiting for you.” Minerva said and waved at the hole.

“Oh! Gabrielle!” Fleur gasped and put her shoes on, applied the charm, and ran down the tunnel.

The judges weren't sure how to score the event, considering that one of the champions had made it so easy for the others to complete the task. Minerva told them she would give him a ten, just because he was smart enough to not kill anything with such destructive spells.

Karkaroff reached down and scratched himself between the legs. The steel wool was starting to grow back and he would have to cut it again.

Everyone eventually agreed with Minerva. The paper the next day reported everything.

*

“Welcome to the final task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament!” Ludo Bagman said loudly and the crowd cheered loudly. He gave his little inspirational speech and the people ate it up. “Our contestants entering the maze are as follows. Cedric Diggory with 85 points, Victor Krum with 80 points, Fleur Delacour with 70 points, and Harry Potter with 60 points. Each five point difference is a one minute penalty.”

“Shut up and get on with it!” Someone shouted and nearly everyone laughed.

“Yes, yes! Right away.” Ludo said and waved at the cannon, which went off. Cedric ran into the opening of the maze and disappeared from sight. Victor entered at a run a minute later.

Fleur looked around two minutes later, hoping to see him. She sighed and walked into the maze at a casual pace. She no longer wanted to win and had lost her competitive spirit. She sat down at the first intersection and rested her back against the tall hedge wall to watch the entrance.

There was a flash of a portkey two minutes later and the people in the crowd cheered at Harry's appearance. Fleur's heart beat fast at the sight of him and she wasn't sure why. He was just a boy in her mind and was three years younger and inexperienced. The thing was, she knew he was much more knowledgeable than she was.

“You're not permitted to use Fiendfire!” The Minister of Magic shouted at him.

“Why would I waste such a great spell on hedges?” Harry asked with a laugh and pointed his wand at the maze. “Reducio Maxima!”

To everyone's surprise, the fifteen foot tall maze started to shake and shrink back into the ground.

“Stupid organizers.” Harry said as he entered the maze. He saw the french champion sitting at the first intersection and could see the shock on her face. “It's a simple solution for a little boy, isn't it?”

Fleur didn't respond, so Harry ignored her and climbed up the now five foot tall hedge in front of him and hopped over. Everyone in the stands could see Victor and Cedric desperately fighting against the monsters and obstacles while Harry casually climbed over the hedges and avoided everything. He was about halfway to the cup when a voice rang out.

“PLEASE WAIT!” Fleur's voice cut through the crowd's chatter and she started to hop and run over the hedges to catch up to Harry.

Harry, not one to ignore a woman's shout, turned to watch her. He admired her form and her figure as she easily leapt over the hedges he struggled with. By the time she reached him, she was breathing heavily and her clothing was torn in places. He waved his wand over her to heal her multitude of scratches and then again to repair her clothing.

“What can I do for you?” Harry asked.

“I... I want to... apologize.” Fleur said and looked sheepish. “I was arrogant and full of myself when I came here. I was the favored student and everyone wanted to be around me.”

“Wasn't that because of your allure?” Harry asked, slightly confused. He offered his arm to her and she took it without thinking about it.

“Some of it, yes. I try to keep it restrained as much as possible in public...”

“...except when it will be advantageous. I understand.” Harry said and started to walk again.

“You do?” Fleur asked, surprised.

“How many boys did you make a drooling mess and follow you around the school like dogs?”

Fleur blushed a little. “Only six of them before the first task. After that, I... I stayed in the carriage.”

Harry waved his wand at the hedge in front of them and it parted wide enough for them to walk through without stopping. “Were you tired of the attention?”

Fleur shook her head and didn't notice the hedge behind them going back together. “I saw what you did in the area to the dragon.”

“Ah. Unconscionable fear, then.” Harry said and lifted her hand to his mouth to kiss it. “I'm sorry that I caused you an existential crisis at such a young age. It was an unintentional side effect to the show I was giving.”

Fleur blinked her eyes. “At my young age?!?”

Harry chuckled and split the next hedge. “Most adult wizards never get to see Fiendfire in all its glory and I showed it to a school full of students that were wholly unprepared for the sight. I imagine Dumbledore and the Ministry were swamped with Howlers and angry parents after that one.”

“They were.” Fleur said, recalling her father being one of them. “After the second task as well.”

Harry grinned and split the next hedge they approached. “I assume I was quoted about their incompetence?”

“Several times. I thought you got the paper and that's how you knew about the tasks?” Fleur asked.

“Oh, no. I wouldn't buy that drivel. A good friend of the family fills me in on necessary information.”

“Who?” Fleur asked, curious.

“It's a secret.” Harry said and waved at the hedge in front of them. It didn't split. “I see we are at the center of the maze already.”

“What?” Fleur looked around and saw the eight foot tall square in front of them.

“I think it will only open if we are on the right path.” Harry said and turned them to the right and started to split the hedges and entering the paths it revealed. They went all the way around until they were on the left side and the hedge in the center moved apart to reveal the cup.

“Of course it's on the last side we check.” Harry said with a chuckle and led Fleur inside.

“What are you doing?” Fleur asked.

“Sharing the win.” Harry said and took her hand in his. “I don't want Ludo to be rich.”

“What does that mean?” Fleur asked and then she huffed. “He's bet on you every event, hasn't he?”

Harry grinned and the two of them grabbed the cup at the same time.

The portkey glowed and they were swept up in the swirling vortex that went on for a few seconds longer than it should have to bring them to the starting area. When they landed, both were on their feet. They had experienced portkey travel a lot over the last couple of years and were unaffected.

“Kill the spare!” A harsh voice ordered.

“Avada Kadavra!” Another voice cried out from a shadowed figure.

Harry held the magical cup up between him and the green beam of light. The curse was reflected and hit the headstone beside him, destroying it. The glow on the cup faded as well.

“Bombarda Maxima!” Harry said and blasted the ground beside the shadowy figure.

“AHH!” Two voices screamed and the shadowy figure split in two.

Harry and Fleur walked over to them and saw that it was a pudgy man and a small bundle of something. Harry unwrapped the thing and almost threw up.

“What is that?” Fleur asked as she held her wand towards it.

“If my guess is right, I would guess it's a homunculus of Voldemort.” Harry said and Fleur gasped. “Don't worry, he's harmless.”

“I am the Dark Lord!” The ugly baby-like construct shouted.

“You are a stain on the magical community and you caused all of the trouble I've ever had in my life.” Harry said. “I'm just glad I don't have to worry about you anymore.”

“What?” Voldemort looked confused.

“A homunculus doesn't have the same restrictions for transfiguration as a human body does.” Harry said. “Say, Fleur. Do you want to give me a hand?”

“With what?” Fleur asked, her previous trepidation about Harry forgotten.

“Let's play a prank on the wizarding world.” Harry said with what could only be described as an evil grin.

Fleur looked at his face and then at the horror stricken face on the homunculus. “I would be happy to.” She said and didn't tell him that she would do just about anything to stay on Harry's good side.

As if Harry sensed what she meant, he reached over and touched her cheek. “We can talk later.”

Fleur nodded and the two of them got to work.

*

“Where are they?” Ludo asked, worriedly. When the cup disappeared from the maze, the enchantment keeping the hedges intact was broken and it sank back into the Quiddich field.

“We didn't see them.” Cedric said, indicating himself and Victor. He didn't point out that neither of them noticed that the hedges had shortened so much before they disappeared, either. It made them feel stupid.

“I'm sure they will show up eventually.” The Minister of Magic said with confidence. “They are the winners, after all.”

Ludo started sweating. “No, I'm sure that Harry was the first to touch the cup.”

A few people laughed at him, including the judges.

“You didn't see them and they are both gone, meaning they had to touch the cup at the same time.” Minerva pointed out. “The cup wouldn't bring passengers.”

Ludo closed his mouth on the protest and cursed silently.

A few minutes later, there was a flash of light from the podium and the scene was something out of a nightmare. A blood covered Harry Potter had an equally blood covered Fleur in his arms in a princess carry. They looked like they went through hell and had barely survived. In their hands was a cracked and damaged Tri-Wizard cup filled with blood.

“Why would you send us there of all places?” Harry shouted. “Is the Minister insane to approve this?”

“Harry, what happened?” Minerva asked and went over to them.

“It... it was HELL! Literal HELL!” Harry yelled and dropped to his knees. “Oh, Merlin! MERLIN! We're all doomed if they ever find us!”

Fleur burst out crying and hugged his neck. “We had to stop them! It was them or us!”

“I know, Fleur. I know.” Harry said sadly and turned his head to look into her eyes. “Their blood powered the broken portkey back. It was the only way.”

Everyone stood there in shock and didn't know what to do.

“The cup. You have to empty it.” Fleur whispered.

“Yes, we have to. This cup can never be used again! It could unleash...” Harry shook his head. “No, we have to keep this a secret. No one can know what happened. No one.”

Fleur took a shaky breath and nodded. “I promise. No one will know.”

“Thank you.” Harry said and kissed her.

Fleur stiffened for a moment, then she felt his magic flow around him. “MMMM!” She moaned as her body reacted to the feeling of being held in his arms as he cast the Everflow spell on the fake blood in the cup.

Harry kept the kiss going and tipped over the Tri-Wizard cup to empty it. The blood gushed out, as if from a hose, and it kept going and going. People screamed as the blood became a torrent and flowed over the podium and onto the ground, then it seemed to gain momentum and waves actually appeared, like it was from an ocean and not the top of a trophy.

After several minutes, Harry finally broke the kiss and ended the spell, to Fleur's dismay. He saw her face and gave her another quick kiss before he winked at her. Fleur smiled at him and nodded slightly, agreeing to do a bit more than talk later. When they looked around, it was pandemonium.

“Don't laugh. Don't laugh.” Harry whispered like a mantra and Fleur clamped her mouth shut to stop her unladylike giggle from escaping.

Students and parents were slipping and sliding in the river of fake blood that Harry and Fleur had unleashed. It was splashed everywhere and not one person didn't have at least some blood on them. Most were drenched, including the Minister of Magic. In fact, he looked like he had been pushed into the flow near the beginning and he was throwing up some of the fake blood he had swallowed.

“Best day ever.” Harry whispered and Fleur gave him a look with raised eyebrows. “I kissed you and probably removed the Minister of Magic from office. How can that not be the best day?”

Fleur had to smile and gave him another kiss while everyone around them freaked out.

*

Minister Fudge was ousted in the aftermath, the Tri-Wizard Tournament was permanently discontinued, and the Goblet of Fire was decommissioned and tucked into the deepest depths of the Department of Mysteries. No one ever learned that it was just an elaborate prank.

Hermione only managed twelve Owls and ten Newts, because she just wasn't interested in the self-study subjects. She took an extra year than Harry as well and she hated him for that. She would never admit that it was her own failing and belief that she was the smartest witch of her age. She never considered that Harry could be the smartest wizard of his age and they could both have similar titles.

Harry and Fleur kept their relationship a secret from everyone except their families. Both were ecstatic about it and made them promise to not do anything major until they were older. The two teens agreed and didn't have sex until Harry was of age and they were married. They had years of sexual frustration to get out of their systems by then, especially Fleur with her natural sexual nature. Their entire honeymoon was spent in bed pleasuring each other. Neither complained at all.

Ten years later, Harold Rogers used his old name of Harry Potter and swept through the Ministry of Magic, beating all comers in elections, and became the youngest Minister in history. It was then that he revealed that it was his marks on Owls and Newts that everyone had been surprised with. His win was celebrated by everyone in the wizarding world and by his family.

Fleur was hired as his undersecretary, which shoved her mixed heritage in the traditional pure blood's faces. No one could object. If they did, they were either silenced or removed. Harry never took any slights against his family. Ever.

On the mantle above the fireplace in their large manor home, was a rare and odd sight. Two Tri-Wizard cups stood side by side. The real one was in pristine condition and was filled to the brim with a thousand galleons. The other one was transfigured from Voldemort's homunculus and it was cracked and still had some blood left in it from the prank. Both cups were under unbreakable and stasis charms and would stay that way, completely untouched for centuries.

THE END