'HARRY POTTER, THE BOY WHO LIVED' was plastered in dark, bold letters across the top of the Daily Prophet, its words screaming 'saviour' to the wizarding world, showing that the dark days were finally over.
Ten years later, that article would still be able to be found in the houses of witches and wizards, preserved by a spell, a memorial for their hero. Yet at that moment, that boy, who lay on the cold, hard ground in a small shack on the centre of a craggy island, had no idea that he was a saviour, nor that he was special. Instead, this boy had never been made to feel like either of those things, the way that he would have done in a loving family. However, the Dursley's were far from loving, Harry had been made to grow up on his own, to feed a family he never cared for and to become just as cold as the floor he had to sleep on, just as dark as the small cupboard that had been his home. Using a small finger, Harry slowly drew himself a birthday cake in the dirt and made a wish, he had never been one for wishes, there was no need to put your faith in something so nonsensical when all you could rely on, was yourself. In spite of that, in this particular moment of time, Harry Potter wished that he could have just one of those letters and the reasons why it was so important that he should receive one. He reopened his bright green eyes and a loud crash banged against the rickety door of the shack, for a moment Harry had thought it was the wind, but he was proved wrong when the loud bang came twice more. There was someone outside. Harry found it rather odd that someone had come to this crumbling island, in the middle of a stormy night and then proceeded to demand entrance to the single shack on it. Uncle Vernon hurried into the room and in his hands was a large rifle, which was aimed towards the door. "Who's there?" Uncle Vernon's voice was barely heard above the wind. "I warn you - I'm armed!"
As soon as those words had left the balding man's mouth, the door fell to the floor with an almighty crash. The man who had kicked down their door could barely be seen in the darkness but appeared to be taller than the doorframe itself. He ducked under the entrance to the shack and forced his way inside, this man, Harry decided, was dangerous and could quite possibly break him in half with his bare hands. In this situation, the only logical thing to do would be to get out of this man's way and let his Uncle deal with him, after all, Harry would not have been saddened if his Uncle came to an early demise, he would deserve it.
Nevertheless, the giant did the opposite of what Harry had expected, instead of murdering them on the spot, he put the door back on its hinges and turned to them with a warm smile on his face, "Couldn't make us a cup o' tea now, could yeh?" He asked, as though he expected a small, decrepit place such as this to have a warm drink, this man was as smart as he appeared. This man quickly made himself comfortable and sat down on the rotting sofa next to Dudley, who scrambled away and hid behind his father along with Aunt Petunia. "An' here's Harry!" The giant exclaimed as he turned to face Harry. Harry looked at this man in surprise, he would surely remember meeting a man like this, and yet, this man seemed to know who he was. "Las' time I saw you, you was only a baby." Continued the man, as though he had not just broken into the house, demanded tea and started to make small talk with an eleven-year-old boy. "Yeh look a lot like yer dad, but yeh've got yer mum's eyes." Now Harry was curious, this man knew his parents, he had never been allowed to talk about them, it was forbidden, just as many things were in the Dursley household. The strange squeak that Uncle Vernon emitted proved Harry's train of thought.
"I demand that you leave at once, sir!" Growled Uncle Vernon, in a tone that Harry was very used to hearing, though it had never been aimed at anyone else. "You are breaking and entering!" Judging by the look on Uncle Vernon's face, he was terrified of what else this stranger might say, Harry had never understood why his Aunt and Uncle had refused to tell him about his parents, so it seemed like he was finally going to get some answers. Uncle Vernon was right to be afraid of this man, as he had taken the rifle from his hands, bent it in two and thrown it into the corner of the room.
The man turned back to Harry with a smile on his face once again and carried on as though nothing had happened. "Anyway—Harry, a very happy birthday to yeh. Got summat fer yeh here—I mighta sat on it at some point, but it'll taste all right." Harry was more than shocked, this stranger knew a lot about him, and in the space of five minutes, he had shown more interest in Harry's life than the Dursleys ever had. The giant handed him a medium sized box, albeit slightly squashed, but Harry didn't mind, as he opened it carefully and saw a cake inside. The cake appeared to be homemade, it was chocolate and on the top, in wobbly green icing, it read 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARRY'.
Now Harry was able to ask the question that he had been urging to ask since the man had barged his way in. "Who are you?"
The man chuckled at Harry's bluntness. "Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts." Hogwarts? That sounded like a made-up place, yet, the man looked completely serious, and Uncle Vernon looked as though he was about to explode. Rubeus Hagrid offered him his hand, which Harry accepted, and then shook all of Harry's arm. In usual circumstances, Harry would have felt it necessary to introduce himself, however, these circumstances were far from ordinary, and the man already seemed to know who he was.
"I'm still not sure who you are," Harry admitted to the man, unashamed of having to ask since, for the first time in his life, questions seemed to be welcomed.
"Call me Hagrid," he said, "everyone does. I'm Keeper of Keys at Hogwarts—yeh'll know all about Hogwarts, o' course." Hagrid still did not appear to be joking, as he repeated his formal title once again, with as much sincerity as the first time.
"I've never heard of it." Answered Harry, still wary of the man, however, instead of laughing at him and revealing the whole thing to be an enormous joke, Hagrid looked flabberghasted.
He even turned to look at the Dursley's with a sneer before he answered. "Never heard of- Did yeh never wonder where yer parents learned it all?"
"All what?" Harry asked in confusion, he was beginning to doubt everything that the Dursleys had told him, yet, he didn't trust what the man was telling him to be the truth either.
Harry's lack of knowledge just seemed to make Hagrid even angrier. "ALL WHAT?' He repeated Harry's words in a roar that shook the walls of the shack before he rounded on the cowering Dursleys. "Now wait jus' one second. Do you mean ter tell me," he growled at the Dursleys, "that yeh never told this boy ANYTHING?" Harry could feel the anger being emitted from the man, which confused Harry further, he knew that he did well in school, but this was clearly about something else, something that Harry really was clueless about.
"Tell me about what?" Harry asked.
Hagrid seemed to calm down slightly when he turned back to Harry. "Your world. My world. Yer parents' world."
"What world?" Now Harry was sure that this man was at least slightly insane, there was only one world, unless his parents were part of a secret society, Harry briefly wondered whether his parents had been secret agents, but that idea seemed highly unplausible.
"But yeh must know about yer mum and dad," Hagrid now seemed to be desperate for Harry to have known something. "I mean, they're famous. You're famous."
'What? My parents weren't famous, were they?" Harry was sure that he had never seen his parents in any book at school and if they were famous, Harry imagined that their deaths would have been memorialised like other celebrity deaths.
"Yeh don' know... yeh don' know..." Hagrid seemed to be completely bewildered and unprepared for the situation as he continued to stare at Harry. In a final attempt to get Harry to remember something. "Yeh don' know what yeh are?"
It seemed as though Uncle Vernon had finally had enough, his voice had returned and he stared at Hagrid directly when he spoke. "Stop!" he commanded. "Stop right there, sir! I forbid you to tell the boy anything!" Though his bravery vanished once more when Hagrid shot him a furious look, and Uncle Vernon backed away again.
You never told him? Never told him what was in the letter Dumbledore left fer him? I was there! I saw Dumbledore leave it! An' you've kept it from him all these years?"
"Kept what from me?" Harry asked angrily, he couldn't believe that the Dursleys had kept something so big from him, and now he was adamant to know.
Now Uncle Vernon's voice was laced with panic. "STOP! I FORBID YOU!"
"Tha' tone don' work on me Dursley," Hagrid growled in response, to which Aunt Petunia let out a slight whimper. "Ah, go boil yer heads, both of yeh." Now Hagrid turned to Harry and told him the answer that he had been waiting for. "Harry - yer a wizard."
"What?" Harry replied and a bubble of amusement escaped in shock. Right now the secret agent idea was seeming more realistic, magic was just fanciful thinking for the fainthearted. Harry had never even thought about the possibility of magic existing because the idea of it just sounded completely nonsensical.
"A wizard, o' course," said Hagrid, as though it was the most ordinary thing to tell a person. "an' a thumpin' good'un, I'd say, once yeh've been trained up a bit. Now, here's yer letter."
"Right.. obvious," Harry mumbled as he took the thick envelope from Hagrid and opened it suspiciously. Upon inspection, the letter appeared to be rather ordinary, made out of thick parchment - an odd choice but not dangerous - and was written in a fine, green cursive. Still, Harry was still not very trusting of its contents, was it really all that safe to believe a complete stranger on all of this. Harry shrugged that thought away, anywhere would be better than having to live with the Dursleys.
"He's not going." Uncle Vernon said firmly, Harry just stared at him as though he were stupid, the old codger would never learn his lesson.
"I'd like ter see a great Muggle like yerself stop him," Once again it sounded as though Hagrid had made up a word.
"A what?" Harry asked, to him it sounded like an insult of some kind, which he hoped it was.
"A person withou' magic." Hagrid explained.
"We swore when we took him in we'd put a stop to that rubbish," Uncle Vernon retaliated in a defiant manner.
"You knew," Harry said quietly. "YOU KNEW?' This time the words came out louder than before, Harry was beyond angry, he was tired of being lied to, everything he had ever known, was just one big lie. "Oh, and while we're at it, I suppose my parents didn't die in a car crash?"
"CAR CRASH!" roared Hagrid, who was now standing. "How could a car crash kill Lily an' James Potter? It's an outrage! A scandal!"
"Why is that a scandal?" Harry asked, he now realised that his parents must have been important as Hagrid was showing emotions of great horror.
"Right, now what yer have teh understand is that not all wizards are good," Hagrid began to explain, Harry listened carefully and his horror grew the more he learned. His parents had been murdered, by the darkest wizard in history, Voldemort. But he, Harry had been able to survive and send Voldemort away in the process.
"But how does that me a hero? I was one year old, has no one ever considered external factors?" Harry asked, a world he did not even know existed until moments ago had no right to make him their hero, especially for something he cannot even remember doing.
"Yer a symbol o' hope Harry. Yer the saviour of the wizarding world." Hagrid said.
"I don't even remember it." Harry insisted.
"People aren't going teh see it that way, you were the one who stopped him so yer the hero," Hagrid told him with a slight touch of sorrow in his voice. Harry was annoyed, he never wanted to be a hero, he had no reason to save people, people had never done anything for him. in spite of this, Harry knew that if Voldemort did ever return, he would be the one to kill him, he would kill him with his bare hands if he had to. "Dumbledore said that yer wouldn't know stuff, but I never expected this," Harry remembered that Dumbledore was the headmaster of Hogwarts and that he had been the one to leave Harry at the Dursleys.
"Has Dumbledore been keeping an eye on me?" Harry asked, using his words selectively so that the Dursleys wouldn't realise what was happening. Now that Harry had learned of Voldemort, he knew that the wizarding world would not have just sent him away.
"I suppose, yer Harry Potter after all." Hagrid chuckled. "Why'd yer ask?"
"You've mentioned him a few times, it seemed like he was in charge." Harry shrugged the question off easily as the anger welled up inside him. This meant that Dumbledore knew everything, all the things that the Dursleys had put him through over the years, the beatings, the starving, the cupboard, overall neglects and how he had been treated like a slave since he was able to hold a broom.
"Great man Dumbledore," Hagrid added as an afterthought.
Harry had no answer to that, Dumbledore did not seem all that great to him, in no circumstance should anyone have to go through the abuse that he went through. The great man that Hagrid saw was false, just a facade. To Harry Dumbledore was just one thing, a liar. Liars deserve to be punished.
And so, Harry James Potter left for Hogwarts with two goals in his mind, to avenge his parents' murder, and to punish Albus Dumbledore for his manipulation of others.
When Ronald Weasley received his acceptance letter, he was not even surprised, all of his older brothers had been accepted into the school, and he himself had done accidental magic many times. Ronald knew that he had a lot to overcome once attended Hogwarts, he knew the views that people had of his family, views that he hated to be included in. When his father died, their family had been thrown into a worse poverty than before, his mother had worked full time at the ministry of magic. But now, they were living better than they ever had been, his mother was now head of the Department of Mysteries, whilst Bill and Charlie sent home a quarter of their earnings, to make up for any losses. During his childhood, Ronald had been very dependent on his mother, but when his family learned of his fascination with the Dark Arts, he had been cast aside and forced to grow up alone. On the day that his letter arrived, Molly Weasley had informed Ronald that he would not be going, but after Dumbledore had visited, she changed her mind and Ronald was allowed to attend. The Weasleys, like the rest of the wizarding world, had a blind faith in Dumbledore, one that Ronald failed to understand, yet despite his mistrust in the man, he was more than happy to let him talk Molly into letting him go to Hogwarts. However, to his dismay, Ronald learned that he would be in the same year as Harry Potter and would be overshadowed by everything the saviour did. Ronald planned to stay clear of the saviour, as he was a beacon of light and would surely look down upon Ronald's interests just as everyone else had. Besides, as he was a hero, he would be in Gryffindor, and would get himself killed by the end of his first year for trying to save everyone. Unlike the rest of his family, Ronald had no intentions of being in Gryffindor, the bunch of do-gooders made him sick to the stomach and he relinquished the thought that he would have to get along with people like that.
Despite all outward appearances, Ronald was very excited the day they went to Diagon Alley to buy his school supplies, he had already constructed a plan, as he knew that his mother would refuse to leave his side the entire time. They had been there for about an hour before Ronald started his plan.
"Mother?" Ronald asked innocently.
"What is it, Ronald?" Molly replied in annoyance,
"Do you get lonely when everyone is at school?"
"Oh - why I suppose I do." The shock on Molly's face was clear, Ronald had not shown much interest in their family life for years.
"Have you ever thought of buying a communication device? I hear they are very popular these days." He informed her.
"Ooh what a grand idea!" Molly exclaimed. "I can get one for all you boys at Hogwarts, and even one for Bill and Charlie." Just as Ronald expected, Molly rushed towards the nearest supplier and left Ronald alone, with his money and school supplies. Ronald smiled and started to make his way through the crowds towards Knockturn Alley, a street that he was forbidden to go down, however, there was an important book on the Dark Arts for sale there, which he wanted to buy. Ronald had never been allowed a book on the Dark Arts, as Molly was afraid of what he would do with the knowledge, but Ronald planned to use his free time to practise it at Hogwarts.
The man in Msaw Ætaregave Ronald a surprised look when he entered, the Weasley red hair was famous, especially for its association with the Light Side. Nevertheless, Ronald ignored him and started to browse the shelves for the particular book he had in mind. Just as he had heard, the book was here, Infamous Blood Rituals and How To Use Them. With a look of triumph on his face, Ronald pulled the book from the shelf and went to pay for it.
"Do you know what that book is?" The clerk asked Ronald when he caught sight of the title.
"Of course, I want to buy it after all," Ronald replied coolly. "Besides, it is your job to sell me the book, not to be concerned about whether I will know how to use it."
"Alright then." Gruffed the man, he accepted Ronald's money and handed him back the book. Nothing more was said and Ronald left the shop, the book clutched in his hands.
He hurried down the side of the shop, pulled out his wand, prepared to use it for the first time, the spell he had researched at the front of his mind. He pointed the wand at the book and spoke the incantation clearly. "Reducio." The book began to shrink until it was small enough for him to fit inside his robe pocket undetected. Ron smirked, Hogwarts would surely be interesting.
Ronald Billius Weasley left for Hogwarts with his high ambitions and a will to become greater than his family could ever aspire to be.
On the day that a strange man appeared on the Granger's doorstep with the news that their daughter was a witch, they were beyond relieved. Mrs Granger had broken down in tears and begged the man to fix their daughter, they believed that she had been possessed by the devil. The strange man, who goes by the name Albus Dumbledore simply looked amused by this statement, he had heard it many times from the parents of Muggleborns. "Mr and Mrs Granger," Dumbledore started in a calm voice. "I can assure you that your daughter is not ailed by any demons, her magical ability is part of who she is. At Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, we teach children just like Miss Granger to not only use their powers, but how to control them."
"She already knows how to control her powers!" Wailed Mrs Granger, her husband wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulder. "I've seen her use them! She trips over other children in the playground when they chase her, makes the stones fly towards them when they are mean to her, the teachers and other students see her as a freak."
"It is possible that it is just accidental magic, all magical children will experience this, particularly when they are anxious or scared, she might not have known what she was doing was magic," Dumbledore explained, he tried to calm the fears of the hysterical lady.
"No," Mr Granger said cutting in. "She knows what she is doing, ever since she started doing it, she has read more books about magic than any other child in her class and her outbursts have been similar to the type of magic in the books. I've seen her create fire from thin air, pull all the leaves off the trees in a gust of wind and send swarms of insects after the other children. It got to the point where we had to remove all fantasy books from the house and have her banned from reading them in the school library. But it didn't end there, she began to sneak out of the house for hours on end to read more books in the library, or to steal books from the shops. Her powers are becoming stronger and stronger and we do not have a way to contain them. Help our daughter, please." The man begged, for both Mr and Mrs Granger were terrified of what their daughter could do if she was not kept under control.
Dumbledore was surprised at the abilities of this child and her determination to use them, usually, children were unable to control their magic until they got a wand, but this girl was able to perform non-verbal and wandless magic before she had even attended her first lesson. He knew that she would be a very powerful witch someday, he hoped that she would turn to the light and fight for him. Albus Dumbledore intended to use this girl when Voldemort would inevitably return, alongside Harry Potter, Voldemort would not stand a chance. "When will Miss Granger be home?" Dumbledore asked.
When young Hermione Granger arrived home that day, she was ecstatic to hear that she would be able to attend a school with people like her, where she would be able to learn magic and not be restricted from being herself. She told the old man that she would become the best witch at the school and that she was excited to learn more about magic. Dumbledore told her that she could send him a letter by owl if she had any further questions and gave her directions to a place where she could buy her school supplies. After Dumbledore left, Hermione began to practice her magic even more, and with the help of her new wand and textbooks, she was able to reach new magical heights.
Hermione Jean Granger was determined that one day the world would be impressed by her and envy her magical abilities, rather than look down on her for being different.
Until the moment his letter arrived, Draco was filled with anxiety that he might not receive it, there was no reason for him not to receive one, however, the very thought of what his father would do if he was not magical enough to attend Hogwarts shook him to the core. Therefore, when Draco was able to hold the heavy parchment in his hands, he nearly wept tears of joy. The words 'Malfoy's don't cry' ran through his head in his father's stern voice, instead, Draco took a firm stance and delivered the letter to his father in his office. Lucius Malfoy had always been a stern man, one who stuck to his code (and the code of every Malfoy heir before him) and insisted of enforcing this code upon his only son, Draco Malfoy. There was a long list of things that Malfoys could or could not be, should or should not do, must act or must not act, things that had ingrained into Draco his entire life. Draco was proud to be a Malfoy, they were a pureblooded and prestigious family, one of the only true pureblood families left. From a young age, he had been told that it was better to be a pureblood, that halfbloods and mudbloods were nothing but scum that should work for him. To be a Malfoy was to rule, to walk over others, to bend them to your will, to force others to do things that it would be improper for a Malfoy to do. Overall, Draco believed most of these things, he believed that he was better due to his blood purity, he believed that he should be able to get what he wanted, however, he did not want to be the heir. Being an heir meant that there was a lot of responsibilities, a lot of rules to follow and a strict appearance to keep up. Draco had never been a child, yet his child-like instincts willed him to run wild and to be his own person, someone who was vastly different to the man that he worked so hard to please. Unfortunately, Lucius Malfoy was not easily pleased, when he learned of Draco's acceptance into Hogwarts, rather than congratulating him, he gave him a long list of instructions for what he should do when he arrived, from the moment that they arrived at the train station.
"Draco?" Lucius asked over breakfast on the first of September. "I trust that you remember what you are to do when you attend Hogwarts."
"Yes Father," Draco replied politely, he made sure to look at his father when he was addressed and to look him directly in the eyes when he spoke. To do this was to show a sign of importance and was more basically the proper manners that one should be taught.
"These duties are?" Lucius prompted, a look of despair on his face, he thought that he had taught his son better than to answer so brashly.
"At the train station, I am to meet with Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, we are then to proceed to the third compartment on the second carriage. You have already informed the other pureblood families that that is where I will be so there will not be any purebloods in the compartment. Therefore, I can remove any other person who may be in the carriage. Halfway through the journey, I will find out where Harry Potter is and I will befriend him as he will provide us with a good ally in the future. At Hogwarts, I am to be sorted into Slytherin house and am to ensure my dominance throughout the first years immediately. I will also be first in all my classes and will not let anyone overtake me, particularly a mudblood. Under no circumstance will I be friendly towards bloodtraitors, halfbloods or mudbloods. Finally, I am to assert my position in the house by the end of the year so that I will be a Princeps from my second year onwards." Draco recited his words accurately, without hesitation and in a calm stature.
"Precisely." Lucius nodded slightly. "We will be leaving in an hour." The Malfoys ate the rest of their meal with a polite small talk before the houselves cleared it away and gathered up Draco's belongings.
Draco Lucius Malfoy left for Hogwarts with the aim to befriend Harry Potter so that he could become a different man to the one that his father is.
A/N - And that's the first chapter complete! Sorry for the slow start but I needed to introduce the characters to show how they're different to their canon. Anyway I hope you enjoy the fic and I'll post again very soon.