Kailor: Hola readers. I hope you enjoy. Inspired by Harry Crow by robst. That was a truly good story. Thank you all.

On the west coast of Scotland, about 25 miles north of Oban, sat Castle Stalker. It was a simple, but beautiful, castle that sat on a very small island in Loch Laich not far from the mainland. The brown and gray stone walls rose to ancient turrets and battlements. The little island was a hilled mass of green, ringed with rocks and tiny beaches.

Once this castle and its lands had belonged to the MacDougalls when they were the Lords of Lorn. After that it changed hands between the Stewarts and the Campbells multiple times until 1965, when Lt. Col. D. R. Stewart Allward purchased it. He and his family spent the next ten years rebuilding and restoring the castle. Then, on a beautiful summer day, they packed up all of their things and were gone. No one knew why and the Allwards gave no explanations.

People began to avoid the little island and its small castle. Nobody really knew when the legends began, but it became local fact that fishermen who got too near the castle would suddenly have the irresistable urge to return home, whether they had caught anything or not. Stories of teenagers going to explore the castle and never returning were told around hearths to keep the young in check. Everyone knew about the howls that were sometimes heard from the castle. Many had claimed to see a shadowy figure that would stand on the battlements, looking out to sea. Most everyone had a story about seeing lights moving from window to window in the dead of night. A young man from Oban visited and said he'd seen a group of children playing on the island, their laughter echoing across the water. But in the years since the Allwards had left, fewer and fewer people paid attention to the old fortress. Those that weren't indifferent to the stone fortress were terrified of it.

So late one night, the night after Halloween, nobody was there to see the woman who appeared on the shore. One moment the tide was gently lapping at the sand and stone, and the next she was there, her cloak swirling about her. Her dark hair was pulled up into a tight bun and she wore square glasses and a thin-lipped expression that clearly said she was not someone to mess with. She was dressed oddly, in a set of robes that were bottle green, with a black cloak. In her arms was a bundle of red blankets. Thunder sizzled overhead, warning of the storm approaching. She raised her hand and pointed a stick at the island. Something silver and distinctly feline shot from the end of the stick and raced across the water and up the opposite shore to Castle Stalker. Within minutes a lantern emerged from the castle, floating down toward the water, seemingly of its own accord. In a few moments it was aboard a small boat that looked like it had risen from the depths of Loch Laich. As it drew closer to the woman, she could make out the man who carried the lantern. His blonde hair feathered off his face and forehead like he spent a lot of time with the wind running through it. His gray eyes were strikingly handsome, despite the small signs of age on his face, like the slightly sunken cheeks and the crease in his brow. A scar ran from his left nostril to his upper lip. But his jaw was sharp and his lips smiled in a very welcoming way. "Minerva McGonagall. Haven't seen you in ages." His soft voice had an English accent with the faintest trace of Scottish in it. "What brings you to my castle?"

"Lyall, there is much to explain. Let us hurry back to the island. You may wish to wake Faolan for this." Minerva McGonagall climbed into the boat, carefully cradling her bundle of blankets.

Lyall glanced at them, his eyebrows drawing together, but he didn't ask. "Faolan is already awake. Little Llyr needed changing." He tapped the edge of the boat with his palm and it glided back toward the island, as if pulled by an invisible string. He asked no more questions. At the shore he climbed out then offered Minerva a hand. Together they hurried to the castle, not stopping to watch the little boat sink back beneath the rippling water of the loch. They passed through the door, Lyall pausing to lock the heavy wooden entrance. They crossed the small courtyard and he steered her into the Great Hall of the keep. The high, vaulted ceiling had lanterns hung throughout, keeping it bright and warm. A fire crackled in the two fireplaces on the east and west walls. The room was basically empty except for a large fur rug in the center and a few soft-looking armchairs. Baby toys were scattered about the floor, nooks sat on a small table beside the smallest armchair. In this chair, her arms full of a bundle of her own, sat a stunning redheaded woman. Her eyes were the color of dark honey and her skin was pale and flawless. Her high cheekbones and soft features made her seem almost surreal as she looked up at them. "Minerva? What brings you here this late at night?" Her accent was the exact opposite of Lyall's: Scottish with just enough English that she was understandable.

Minerva accepted the armchair Lyall offered her. "Faolan, I'm sorry for intruding so late, but this could not wait." She laid her bundle of blankets in her lap and opened them. Within, asleep, was a baby boy with a tuft of jet black hair and a lightning shaped cut on his forehead. "This is Harry Potter."

Lyall knelt beside her chair to get a closer look at the baby. "Harry? But why do you have him? What has happened to James and Lily?"

Minerva sniffed, her stern composure slipping a bit as she dabbed at her eyes with Harry's blanket. "He got them, Lyall. Killed them both last night. Destroyed their house."

Lyall put his head down, touching the medallion hanging from his neck. Faolan pulled her bundle closer, whispering to it in Gaelic. Lyall sighed. "What about Harry?"

"You-know-who tried-"

"Voldemort," Faolan corrected.

"Yes," Minerva grimaced. "Albus made me say the name earlier as well."

"You saw Professor Dumbledore?"

"Yes, Faol, but I will get to that." She motioned to the baby in her lap. "Voldemort tried to kill Harry after James and Lily. But he couldn't. For some reason, it didn't work. Even Albus has no idea what could have happened."

"After all those others he killed?" Faolan said.

"Yes, that's what I said and Albus confirmed everything. After all of these years, to be stopped by a toddler?" She shook her head. "Even more amazing is that it seems he's gone. Vanished after his curse failed. Rumors are flying all over Britain. Despite your remote location, I am very shocked you haven't heard before now. Everyone is calling Harry the Boy-Who-Lived, saying he's our savior." Minerva paused.

"Well they should," Lyall said softly. "Personally I don't care how he's gone, so long as he is. That cut...is that?"

"Yes," Minerva touched the lightning shape lightly. She sighed. "And this brings us to why I am here. Albus had Hagrid bring the babe to his aunt and uncle in Surrey. I had heard that's where the boy was being taken so I spent the day there, watching them. Worst sort of muggles imagineable. You'll never find people more unlike us." She shook her head. "Albus meant to leave Harry with them. Have him raised by these people. I couldn't bare the thought..."

Faolan's beautiful eyes widened. "You stole him, Minerva?"

"Yes, I did." Minerva drew herself up. "And I am not ashamed of it. I felt Albus was...misguided in his intentions to leave the boy there. However, he did have some sound reasoning behind it."

"What's that?"

"I said that everyone in our world would know his name. Famous before he could walk and talk. And Albus said it was better that he grew up away from all of that. Better he grew up normal." Minerva sighed. "I'm afraid I agree with that, but not with who he meant to leave them with. So..." She glanced at the little bundle in Faolan's arms and then to Lyall.

Lyall stood, crossing his arms. "You mean for us to take the boy?"

"I know you'll raise him well. And no one would think to look here." Minerva motioned to the castle around them.

Lyall looked at Faolan, biting his lip. "Minerva...you know what I am-"

"And I know you have it under control, Lyall. I have no fears that your own children will turn out to be anything other than wonderful people. You've already adopted twice and I know you plan on doing so again. Nobody would question it if you turned up with another child." Minerva said. "And I know your plan for their names. You meant to name one of them an H name, I believe?"

Lyall's eyes narrowed. "You're a sneaky lass, Minnie."

Faolan's face had lit up. "Lyall, she's right. It's a sign, surely. We must take him."

The blonde man looked from one woman to the other, finally sighing. "My fair Faol, you know I will do whatever you wish. If you want the boy, we will take him."

Faolan stood, passing the bundle she carried to Lyall. She carefully scooped Harry into her arms, rocking him and whispering in her language.

"I will disguise him," Minerva said. "There is a simple potion that can change his hair color permanently, with only a few doses. I'm afraid there's nothing I can do for the scar. However, perhaps you can find a muggle doctor that may know how to help."

"I know one. I'll bring him straight there in the morning." Lyall peered at the boy in his wife's arms. "You mean for us to keep his identity from him his entire life?"

"No, I expect one day you'll have to tell him. But I don't want others to know. Especially Albus. I fear he would take Harry back to those muggles. Now, here is the potion recipe." She pulled a bit of parchment from her robes and handed it to Faolan. "And there is only one other matter to tend to." She turned to Lyall. "I need you to modify my memory."

"What?" Lyall said, shocked. He shook his head, stepping away from the older woman. "Why?"

"Albus has a knack for finding out things from people. Therefore I want my memory of bringing the boy here wiped. He may one day find out Harry's true identity, but not from me. I can assure you of that." She rose to her full height, her glasses glinting in the firelight.

Lyall glanced at Faolan for help. His wife shook her head, holding Harry closer. Lyall turned back to Minerva. "But you saved him from a life with, as you put it, the worst sort of muggles imagineable. Surely you don't want to forget that?"

Minerva stroked Harry's small head, her eyes suspiciously wet. "I feel he will have a much better life with you. And if I want to make sure that nothing changes that, I need to forget bringing him here. The secret will be with the two of you and Harry when he is ready. Until then, the Boy-Who-Lived will vanish. Perhaps he will become simply a legend. Like your home here has." She turned her tight lips and raised eyebrow back to Lyall. "Now, Lyall. If you would. And if you could Apparate me home that would be helpful, thank you."

The blonde glanced at his wife, then again at the child in her arms. He sighed and handed little Llyr back to her. "I'll be back soon, love. Get the boys to the nursery."

Faolan nodded, tears in her eyes. She bowed her head to Minerva. "You are truly a strong woman."

Minerva thanked her, then followed Lyall out of the castle and down to the water. He bent and pulled a chain lying on the bank and the little boat rose again from the depths of the loch. Their trip back to the mainland was silent. They climbed ashore, both turning back to look at the dark castle on its quiet island. Lyall turned his gray eyes back to the woman beside him. "Are you sure, Minerva? He may need you one day."

"At that time, I will be there. Until then..." she raised her hand toward the castle. "To the Boy-Who-Lived."

Lyall drew a stick from his pocket and pointed it at her. She faced him, crossing her hands at her waist and drawing herself up.

On that silent shore, the night after Halloween, in the shadow of a castle surrounded by legend, no one was there to hear him say, "Obliviate."

Kailor: I hope you enjoyed this first installment! Castle Stalker is a real place with a real history and I included that history in this tale, then changed the bit about who owned it while this story took place. It is open on special dates during the summer for tours! If you plan on treking through Scotland, it's a beautiful place to stop by! Reviews are, as always, welcomed.