John was used to being on his own. Before he was taken in by the Professor he had been on the streets for years. His mother had never been all that healthy and his father was the worst excuse for one and him coming into his mutant abilities had been the last straw for the old man.
Living on the streets taught him that if you weren't strong enough to stand on your own then there wasn't a place for you anywhere. He saw plenty of kids that were too weak and ended up on the side of the road working for a pimp or getting hauled off to a government orphanage where they would be treated worse than the others. John never got caught by either, a fact he was extremely proud of. The only humans that even got close to him ended up finding out how bad of an idea that was. The only reason that he had gone with the Professor when he had just showed up one day was because he had promised to teach him how to control his powers.
It didn't take long to figure out that the school wasn't the place for someone like him. He didn't think of himself as a human with special abilities like almost everyone else in the school did. He was a mutant, the next evolution of humanity and he wouldn't lower himself to their level. They didn't want anything to do with him and he certainly didn't want anything to do with them. It was something that he argued with Bobby about all the time. Bobby just wanted to fit in and be 'normal'.
Meeting Magneto was like being in the dark and suddenly stepping into the sun. The man was everything that he had hoped to find when he had followed the Professor. He knew that humans and mutants were not the same breed and knew that they would never just coexist in peace and harmony. Humans had been the dominant race for far too long to give things up at the drop of a hat. He had wanted to follow the man when they escaped at the lake but had missed the chance with Bobby watching him like a hawk with his whiny little girlfriend. Now he would find them though.
{M}
"Would you like for me to lead the firebug here?" Harry sat at the metal table Magneto had created from scrap and looked at the man that his aunt had told him to follow unless he showed himself to be a threat.
Magneto placed his head on his folded hands and closed his eyes in thought for a moment. He needed followers, but too many too soon would bring attention that would do more harm than good. "Lead him here if you think that he can be controlled, we don't need a brat showing off at the wrong time and bringing the humans down on us before we're ready for them."
(M)
'John, south by southeast.' It was a good thing that John was used to having the Professor barge into his head at odd times or he might have made a scene in the middle of whatever town he was in, he hadn't bothered to pay that much attention. 'An old scrap yard, O'Neill's Scrap.'
(M)
Harry wandered away from the scrap yard shortly after speaking to the firebug. He knew that the Cajun was an empath and that the feral was a bit too interested. He didn't like being made to feel things and he certainly didn't like that they were both out to try and fix him. He liked the feeling that they inspired without prodding but the other emotions they were trying to bring out were better left buried where they were. Power like his mixed with powerful emotions wasn't a good mix, the sooner they learned that the longer they would stay in the land of the living.
(M)
"Has there been any progress in finding young Harry?" Albus was nearing the end of his patience with the whole search. People should just do things the way he planned for them too, everything he did was for the Greater Good.
"No, the Dursleys didn't use any magical means to leave the country and whatever they used to erase their tracks isn't something any of the Aurors can track." Kingsley rolled his shoulders as he thought about the looks that his superior had been shooting him lately. "I doubt that I would be informed even if the rest of my squad did find the boy. My captain has been keeping an eye on me more than usual and seems to suspect that I am a member of the Order."
Albus sighed an leaned back in his chair. "Just keep looking for any trace of our missing Chosen One and we'll try to keep these reports to a minimum to lessen his suspicions. Hopefully having young Harry back where he belongs will show the Ministry that the Order is only doing what it has to do to make sure that the Wizarding World triumphs over Tom once more."
(M)
Jean rolled out of bed with a wince and barely managed to make it to the bathroom in time to keep from making a mess on the floor. She had hoped that her little 'bug' had blown over. Ever since she had first come in contact with Harry her headaches had stopped and she wasn't getting sick randomly all day. Now that it had been weeks since she last laid eyes on him the symptoms were coming back even stronger than before.
The first time they started she had honestly believed that Scott had managed to get her pregnant despite the birth control she insisted on but she had tested herself everyday for almost two weeks before she finally gave that idea up. Every single day it got just a little bit worse and the headaches were really starting to make her powers hard to control. They felt like a tsunami that was battering the walls of her mind, desperate to find a way out, or to make one. Sometimes she couldn't even make a pencil float and others she would make everything in the room move without even thinking about it. She was honestly afraid that soon she wouldn't be able to control her powers at all.
(M)
Cadet Thompson was a muggleborn and this was probably the first time in his life that he was glad to be one. His parents had never really taken well to the whole 'magic' thing and the only reason that they had allowed him to attend Hogwarts was that they were hoping that he would learn how to control his powers so he could be closer to normal. The whole mutant thing just pushed his parents even further away from him and pushed him further into the magical world. Now though, he was one of the only Aurors that had any real experience in how the muggle world really worked. He had loved police shows when he was little and had spent a great deal of time learning everything he could about the whole process. All of this led him to the door that he was currently knocking on.
The woman that opened the door bore very little in common with the picture that they had all been given but he knew the wonders that both the muggle and wizard worlds could do with appearances. "Mrs. Dursley, my name is Robert Thompson and I am with the Auror Department of Britain. I am only here to ask you some questions about your nephew, Harry Potter. I am not here to take him away from you or to accuse you of anything. We just want to know if he has been taken care of and if he is happy." The Captain had been adamant about the fact that they only time they were allowed to try to take custody of the Dursleys or Mr. Potter was if there was something wrong. They were only here to make sure that Mr. Potter was happy and safe, especially with the Dark Lord trying to return to his former glory. They were also supposed to keep contact with the family to a minimum, which was why even his partner didn't know he was here.
The women glared at him for a moment before moving from the front door and motioning to the living room beyond. "Take a seat and mind that you don't get any dirt on my new carpet."
