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An Old and New World
by Lens of Sanity

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Prologue: All Blue Skies

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Harry Potter found himself looking down a familiar length of holly, one he knew to be exactly eleven inches in length, and containing a single feather once belonging to a phoenix named Fawkes. Things really could have been going better, but then again, this was pretty standard as far as his life went, par for the course and all that jazz. What was being tied to a chair with his own Ollivander wand pointed at him, when stacked up to all the other enjoyable goings on that had happened over the past few years, hell the whole of his life?

This all started when Harry was a baby, fifteen months old, when a man came to kill him. No, that's too far back, so it's best to just give the short version. He found out he was a wizard, made two good friends, took down a troll, rescued a dragon, killed his Defence Professor, flew a car into an animated tree, battled a swarm of acromantula, and at the end of his second year went to the rescue of his friend's younger sister.

There, we are more or less up to date on things which are important.

He went to rescue his friend's younger sister. Not that he knew the girl very well you understand, if asked Harry would find himself hard pressed to pin down a single conversation he'd had with her, but from comments made he'd come to the conclusion that she was... sweet. You know the type, all freckles and shy smiles, would do no harm to anyone.

Nevertheless she was a friend's sister, so in the finest traditions of storytelling everywhere he went on one of those classic princess rescues. There was a creepy dungeon, a scary monster, and a damsel in distress. Not to mention the magical sword. So he grabbed the sword, shouted 'Aaaarg!' and ended up slaying the beast; it was a large venomous snake known as a Basilisk, which could kill with a single glance, dead away just as lethal as the famous green light.

Given that Harry was only twelve at the time, you can see how this might have been a little tough, so once the threat was taken care of he blacked out. Coming to Harry noticed that the young girl with the freckles and shy smiles was gone, the beast was still dead, and the only thing left besides the magical sword was a small book, which he took with him as he made his way back to civilisation.

Things went downhill for the twelve year old Harry Potter, as an evil wizard of aristocratic bearing was among the authority figures he sought out. The man denounced him for dispatching the young girl and being in possession of such an obviously evil object. For the small book was once created by a far more evil wizard long ago, one who was, like Harry, in possession of a magical trait which allows the user to converse with serpents.

Proclaim his innocence any way he would Harry was not believed, and even the words of the aged and wise Headmaster were overruled, leaving Harry alone without the aid of his friends or allies. Under the guise of public safety he was locked away where he could do no harm, to the castle fortress of Azkaban. No you may ask, he was but a child, and this was so. It was for this reason he was sentenced to the minimum security section, far from those nightmarish creatures of cloak and withered flesh.

Between two others he was placed, two who would eventually become friends, who had known him his whole life, one by reputation, and one by blood. The man was an evil mass murderer and an old friend of his parents, the woman a feared dark witch who was every bit as insane. Yet with no other company they talked and they played, they taught many things, for you see Harry was quite popular in his castle prison.

Harry learned in the early days that when the foul creatures came close he was made to see all the worst things in life, feel like there was nothing worth living for, and that no hope was there to be had. He discovered through luck that if he forced happiness through his magic, a wonderful mist would overcome him and his friends. The bad things were still there, of that you cannot doubt, but with the mist they could touch him only a little.

So they talked and laughed and played many games. Harry learned the evil wizard of aristocratic bearing had many stories both funny and embarrassing which the woman could enlighten him too, and the man could reveal the past of his parents, misdeeds and adventures which keep him laughing and fascinated.

Long days turned to weeks, and months were passed in this way, until the aged wise headmaster came and took Harry away, and with his new learned stories the man too was freed. For you see the real traitor was not him but a rat. A rat masquerading as a man who was shaped like a rat. It was quite confusing but it worked, and the rat was put in the castle in place of the man, and the man was set free in place of the rat, the rat who was shaped like a man. So now free of the creatures and castle Azkaban, the man and the boy spent time in the house of his old evil family, the boy alone feeling sorrow for leaving his other friend there to suffer.

A few weeks more and Harry would be back where it started, the castle of his school, and his old abandoned friends. Now fourth year was coming and Harry Potter had changed.

Harry Potter had changed, but the world was the same.

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Additional Author Note:

While this does have a real story buried inside somewhere, at its core this fic is all about being FUN. Don't take any of it too seriously, especially for the first year or so following Azkaban (which takes around thirty thousand words). Harry's attitude is like that on purpose, but until you figure out why he's acting this way it comes across kinda caustic. Maybe focus on one of the other main characters, heh...

Spring 2020 Author's Note

Spotting mistakes is hard. If you can both find one while going through this story and point it out for me, not only will I totally fix it, but I'll also give you a cookie...

Its important, especially if you notice witch character's are board by an injury too there thy.

Spelling erorrs, unwise Capitalisation of Words, grammar problem's, and worse yet: words which sound the same when spoken allowed but mean something different when in text...

Remember, there's cookies, also cake!

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