Welcome, one and all, to the second book! I'm really glad to get this one going, because I believe that, as long as you guys enjoy what I post, that makes me glad to post even more! So, there are a few things I need to clarify. From this book on, the story will mostly be seen through Marcus's POV. Also, I will be posting one chapter at a time, unlike the last book where I basically posted the entire book at once. Lastly, there may be times where posting isn't as frequent as normal as other writers. That's due to the fact that I have other responsibilites, but I will do everything I can to ensure posts are put up at a good rate of time. So, now that I've covered everything I wanted to cover for now, without further ado, here's...

HP: The Secret Path

Disclaimer: Yeah, no ownership of HP, no surprise. All OC's in this series, however, are mine, so boo-yah!

Chapter one: Memories

Let's get the ball rolling!

In a peaceful valley that lies outside the city of Cambridge, with lush green grass and thriving trees, lies the Williams Manor. And it's residents are Michael Williams, Head Auror of the Ministry of Magic, Brynn Williams, Auror of the Ministry of Magic, and Marcus Williams, a student at Hogwarts approaching his second year.

Marcus Williams was unsure of moving to England and attending Hogwarts at first. New place, new people, new everything. He was scared that he would get the same treatment that he did in the past: Cold shoulders, isolation, branded a freak.

He didn't feel as strongly about that when he met Harry Potter, which was an interesting event in and of itself. Him and Rubeus Hagrid, the Gamekeeper at Hogwarts, traveled by flying motorcycle to reach an island in the middle of the the sea. Harry Potter was nothing like what Marcus thought he was going to be. He was kind, thoughtful, and unbiased, though he didn't know anything about the Wizarding World or even that he was a wizard himself. It wasn't his fault though. His Muggle relatives did everything they could to withold that information from them. To Marcus' relief, they failed miserably as Harry and him went to get their school supplies together with Hagrid and eventually managed to get on the Hogwarts Express, despite their initial confusion.

He met someone else on that train who would eventually be another good friend to him: Ronald Weasley, or Ron, as he preferred to be called. Marcus was able to relate to Ron a lot because they both knew the ins and outs of the Wizarding World, having been a part of it their entire lives. Ron also had five older brothers and one younger sister, two of his brothers having graduated from Hogwarts. This made Marcus a bit jealous at times, as he was an only child and couldn't relate to the joys and nuisances that came with having siblings. The only thing that Marcus could fault Ron for was that he wasn't exactly the most motivated person in the world, but he knew the potential was there.

Marcus smirked as he remembered his first few months at Hogwarts. It was an absolute marvel, to say the least. There were so many mysteries that the castle had, and he knew that he had to find as many as he could before he graduated from the school. However, something else happened that made Marcus enjoy Hogwarts all the more: Another new, good friend, whose name was Hermione Granger.

Hermione was a mix between himself and Harry. As she was a Muggle-born witch, she knew next to nothing about the Wizarding World, but she pushed herself to know all she could about the new, interesting world she became a part of. Of course, that kind of mindset worked as a double-edged sword, as her newfound knowledge and intelligence worked the irritation of those around her, one such person being Ron. On Halloween, however, when her life was threatened, the three of them saved her from the mountainous troll that had been set loose inside the castle. Marcus could still remember Harry working hours afterwards cleaning the Troll boogers off from his wand.

Just as the four of them became friends, they knew something was going on behind the scenes, due to having accidently ran into Fluffy, Hagrid's Cerberian Hound, on the right hand side of the third floor earlier in the year. They eventually found that Hogwarts was safekeeping the Sorcerer's Stone, a wondrous rock that could turn any metal into pure gold and created the Elixer of Life, making the owner of said rock immortal and rich.

They all assumed that Snape was after the stone, but eventually realized that Voldemort was the one who wanted the stone. He wanted to have a body of his own and the only way he could do it as soon as possible was to drink the Elixer of Life. They knew that they had to get past the teachers' enchantments in order to get to it first.

Marcus sighed after remembering all the things they had to go through for him and Harry to get to the end, only to find Quirrell waiting for them, something that shocked Harry. Marcus did have his suspicions, but wasn't sure until that moment. As satisfying as it was to thwart Voldemort of achieving his goal, there was something that kept nagging him, ever since he got off the Hogwarts Express for summer break.

He somehow kept thinking that the Dark Prince was involved in the events of last school year, but to what degree? Did he merely keep tabs on the situation, or was he involving himself directly in the plot? As Marcus keep thinking over the few days that he was there at home, doing his summer school work, riding on his broomstick and writing to his friends, he was somewhat assured that the latter was unlikely. After all, the Dark Prince was still at Azkaban, British's Wizarding Prison. Since it was so isolated from the rest of the world, he didn't have anything to worry there.

"Marcus!" yelled his father, bringing him back to reality. "Is everything packed yet? We have to leave in an hour for your camp!"

Amongst the few things that Marcus was looking forward to over the summer, the U.S. All-Stars Quidditch Camp was one of them. He received the invitation a little late, sometime in late spring, but he was still excited nonetheless. The U.S. All-Stars had four levels of Quidditch Camp for youths and young adults like him to attend. There was the Basic Camp, which was designed to cover the bare necesseties of Quidditch. Things like how to properly grip your broom, the rules of Quidditch, what each member of a Qudditch Team does, and doing basic moves. Next was the Intertmediate Camp. That level went over things like the intricacies of moves, how to read your opponent's moves, and how to fool them.

He was going to be attending the Advanced Camp, which was something he was looking forward to. This camp went over the more complex movesets in any given Quidditch match, moves that were designed to stump opponents nine times out of ten, and how to not just deal with bad weather, but to thrive in it. He also heard that, this particular year, there would be an interesting prize involved, but as Braxton didn't really go into details, he didn't know much about it.

There was just one camp above advanced, which was called the Master Camp. Getting to attend this camp meant that any given individual was a prospect for the U.S. All-Stars team itself, and that in order to earn their given position on the team, they had to compete and show that they had what it takes to endure the unusually grueling training regimen and perform in a series of matches under different kinds of conditions to show that they could not only handle it, but come out on top.

Marcus knew that he had to make the most of the Advanced Camp because it was highly unlikely that he was not going to be going to the Master Camp, due to the fact that he was not going to pursue a Quidditch career once graduated from Hogwarts.

"Coming right down, Dad!" he yelled, grabbing the remaining things that he pack for the camp. As he brought down his things, including his Nimbus Two Thousand, he looked at his parents, who were waiting for him by the door and his father said, "Well, son, are you all ready?"

"Not quite," said Marcus. "There's a couple of questions that I need answers to."

"Um, sure, Marcus," said Brynn. "What did you have in mind?"

He focused until he felt the sensation come to his eyes and asked, "These eyes...how did I come to possess these kind of eyes?"

Michael and Brynn hesitated before Brynn answered, "You inherited them from my side of the family. Those eyes originate from the medieval ages. Only the royal people, mainly nobles and rulers, were gifted with the ability of seeing the truth and shield them from minor harm. Of course, it didn't protect them from some things, so I wouldn't get the wrong idea."

Marcus nodded his head, satisfied with the answer, and proceeded to say, "And I somehow have the ability to talk to dragons. Mind telling me how?"

"My family, again," Brynn said, now looking thouroughly embarrassed. "Dragons were once renowned as a wealth of knowledge and information in medieval times. Witches and wizards promised to fend them off from Muggles in exchange for providing them with information. So, the dragons taught magic folk the ability to speak to them, in the language of Drakon. My family's ancenstry origins consists of a wizard who was given the gift to speak Drakon and has been passed down ever since."

"Does that mean you can speak it too, Mom?!" asked Marcus.

"Yeah, but it's been a long time since I've actually encountered a dragon," said Brynn. "Actually, modern dragons are too ferocious to get in one word with them."

"Right," said Marcus. "One last thing. How come my hair is white?"

"Sorry, son, but you're not old enough for that answer," said Michael. "Tell you what: Your mom and I will tell you at the end of your fourth year at Hogwarts. I think your mother will agree with me when I say that you'll be old enough to understand then. Until then, no more bringing it up."

"I won't," said Marcus, who knew that it would be pointless to pursue it further.

"Now, let's get going to your camp," Brynn said. "Braxton is really anxious for your arrival."

With all of his luggage with him, Marcus and Brynn held onto Michael's sleeves and apparated to America.

After getting everything squared away at "The Dragon's Maw" in Merlin's Village, Michael, Brynn, and Marcus made their way to the U.S's National Qudditch Stadium. As soon as they saw the stadium that was was covered in red, white, and blue, with flags and stars, Marcus got a smirk as he said, "It's about time! I've been looking forward to this, especially after that horrible visit to Malfoy's Manor earlier this summer."

"Yes, nothing really got accomplished there, did it?" said Michael, who didn't look happy at the thought of it, either.

"That's not true," said Marcus. "I did get Malfoy's hair to turn jet black, so it wasn't a total loss."

"So, that was you!" Brynn scolded.

"I regret absolutely nothing," said Marcus with a smirk as they walked onto the Quidditch pitch.

Marcus took a moment to survey what would be his training for the next two weeks. The towers was decked out with silver stars, the wall surrounding the pitch was designed with American themes over it's history, and of course, the U.S. Flag was stationed at the top of every tower.

"I wonder where Braxton could be?" asked Michael.

No sooner had he said that than a tall, burly man came landing in front of Marcus with his long, brown hair tied back in a ponytail saying, "There you are, Marcus! We were worried you weren't going to make it! Everyone else is up in the air!"

"I wouldn't miss this for anything, Braxton," said Marcus, who immediately mounted his Nimbus Two Thousand and grouped up with the rest of the campers.

"We'll leave him in your capable hands, Braxton," said Brynn as Marcus' parents disapparated.

As Braxton took to the air, he looked at all the campers and said, "Welcome, talented Quidditch players, to the 250th U.S. Quidditch Advanced Training Camp! Over the next two weeks, you'll be given extensive training over the complex movesets, how to adapt in different situations, and learning to play under pressure as well as thriving in bad weather! Chasers will be training with myself, Vivian Jasper and Renee Harley." He pointed to Jasper, a smaller, more nimble Chaser with raven hair and a big smile on her face as she kept throwing the Quaffle in the air; and Harley, a taller, curvier woman with blonde hair and a face that was intimidating enought to send shivers up the Chaser's spines, including Marcus. "Beaters will be training with Tyler and Tyrone Powers." He pointed to twin men who had untidy, short brown hair, giving off grins that were very mischevious. Marcus was reminded strongly of the Weasley Twins just by looking at them. "Keepers will be training with Peyton Ignatius." Everyone looked at the giant of a man, whose head was vacant of any hair, but made up for it with sheer size, making it a challenge to get by him. "And lastly, Seekers will be trained by Penelope Force." Everyone looked at the woman who was laying face up on her broomstick, her short, red hair moving with the wind.

"Well, that should be it for introductions," said Braxton. "Follow your coaches to the training stations and let's get started."

Feeling a rush of adrenaline, Marcus took off with the rest of the Chasers, feeling excited for what he could possibly learn.