Chapter 1 "Prologue"

Long A/N: Hello everyone! Let me start out by saying to those that have read my other story, Once More Around the Bend, that this is indeed NOT the Dragon Harry story that I said I would do. This story was already 50% finished when I finished OMAtB, so I decided that this took precedence.

NOW as for the format of this story, I realize that a lot of people will probably dislike it! Why you ask? Simple! Because it is a Diary type story, meaning you will be reading diary entries from Harry through his seven year at Hogwarts as a Hufflepuff.

That means most of the chapters will be written in ITALIC and I mean completely in ITALIC, this might bother some of you and for that I apologize, but I have always written text in stories with ITALIC and I will continue to do so. There are snippets of normaltext throughout the story, these are special parts of the chapters where you see the memory rather than read Harry's words.

This is the basic premise of this story, and it is COMPLETE. So there will be daily updates for as long as chapters last (69 as of right now, including the epilogue.) I hope you will all enjoy it and let us begin our story of; Seven normal years of Harry the Hufflepuff!

PS: This will end with a Harry/Tonks pairing.

31st of October 1981, Godric's Hollow.

The air was thick with anticipation. It had taken a long time for Lord Voldemort, greatest Wizard to have ever lived (By his own account anyway) to find the Potters.

"The Fidelius Charm… how utterly disappointing." Voldemort muttered to himself as he watched the idyllic little home. His spy, Pettigrew, had told him the secret and now here he was, ready to kill the last obstacle in his way.

His strides were long and purposeful as he slowly approached the oak door. He did not even bother to as much as mutter the blasting hex that blew that ancient door of it hinges. With a sick grin, he walked over the splinters and heard the sound of Lily Potter screaming and her running steps upstairs.

"You won't get them, not as long as I'm alive!" James Potter roared as he tossed a cutting curse after the Dark Lord.

Voldemort barely moved his head to avoid the otherwise lethal curse. With a flick of his wand, Voldemort send the young Lord flying into the living room as he crashed into the dinner table. The Dark Lord gazed up the stairs, contemplating simply going upstairs and finishing his task, alas he decided that the Potter line ended tonight.

If only Voldemort knew what this extra minute would allow Lily Potter to do.

James had barely fought his way to a standing position when the bludgeoning curse hit him in the chest, collapsing his sternum and knocking all the air of out him. Voldemort stood over him and wordlessly summoned his wand as gazed upon it for a silent moment.

"A shame, James Potter. The Potter's were an ancient line, descendants of Godric himself. Alas your line ends here tonight." Voldemort, to James surprise, bowed deeply. "I thank you and your family for your assistance in guiding the Wizarding World to where it is today. Now rest in the afterlife, it is time for Greater Wizards to take charge. Avada Kedavra!" with those words, James Potter's eyes closed for the last time as his body went limp.

Voldemort floated the body into the living room and crossed the young Lords arms. Though a monster he might have become, he was what the Wizarding world needed. Sadly, young potentials like James had not seen it so and had joined forces with fools like Dumbledore. However, that did not mean the young Lord did not deserve the dignity befitting his station.

As he ascended the stairs for his final two targets, Voldemort once more silently thanked the creator of the Killing Curse. It was truly a marvel, quick and painless, ensuring that those of pure blood that chose to stand against him did not need to suffer needlessly.

Entering the nursery, Voldemort's eyes widened slightly in surprise. Lily Potter sat in the rocking chair, a young Harry in her arms. The young Wizard was bawling his eyes out and constantly calling for his mother. Lily Potter was dead, the faint trace of her magic in the air. It surrounded the youngest Potter, wrapping him in a protective blanket.

Voldemort nodded in approval. "A well thought out plan. Sacrificial Magic is at its greatest when done to protect others." Once more, he bowed down that night. "Muggleborn you might have been, Lily Potter, but you stood above those of even the purest blood." Finally, he looked at Harry whom had stopped crying and now looked at him with fearful eyes. "Worry not, young Harry. You shall be joining your Parents soon enough." Voldemort's eyes softened slightly as he lifted his wand. "Avada… Kedavra." He breathed and the sickly green light soared towards young Harry.

Voldemort's eyes widened impossibly as he realized his mistake. The Killing Curse struck the protective layer of Magic and twisted until it encompassed the entirety of the shroud. The color darkened and eroded until nothing but a black mass was left in its place.

It shot out at him quicker than he could blink.

Without as much as a scream, Lord Voldemort evaporated into nothing. His triumph so close by had made him careless. He had not even bothered to look upon the crib that stood nearby, covered in blood runes so freshly carved. Nevertheless, Lord Voldemort would not be beaten so easily. A wisp of black smoke rose from his robes and prepared to depart when it suddenly twitched and an ethereal scream ripped through Godric's Hollow.

In his learning about Horcruxes, Tom Marvolo Riddle had been so ecstatic when he realized that he had finally found the way he would beat Death that he didn't care for what else the book might have to teach him. But had he only looked further, gone all the way to the back and read the final warning written in the binding itself.

Though a Horcrux will guarantee any Wizard that he will sustain beyond death,
if the Wizard is foolish enough to create more than one… he will pay the price.

The price was indeed being paid, Lord Voldemort could only scream as his Horcruxes imploded upon themselves, too weak to sustain him, leaving their host objects behind. Had he only made one, then he would live to see another day, but to have created five. One might think that for each Horcrux one create, one splits the soul in half with each Horcrux, but it is not true. For each time you split the soul, each bit of your soul takes an equal amount of your power.

With his soul split into six different containers. His own Body, The Cup of Helga Hufflepuff, the Diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw, the Locket of Salazar Slytherin, the ring of Marvolo Gaunt and finally his diary from Hogwarts. Each Horcrux held naught but a sixth of his power. They simply did not hold the strength to tie his soul to the material plane. Lord Voldemort was pulled, kicking screaming, into the afterlife. Death taking that which was rightfully his all along.

All there was left was a sobbing Harry Potter in the arms of his mother.

- 17 Years Later -

19th of June 1998, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Harry Potter looked around his dorm room one last time, drinking in the looks and feeling of the place he had called home for seven amazing years. He walked along the walls, feeling the various cracks and imperfections. With each little scorch mark and chink he passed, a memory followed. He felt a tear in his eye as he looked upon his desk. There in the center laid a diary, but not just any diary, his diary.

This had been his second best friend for the entirety of his time here at Hogwarts. Every day he had written something in it, however big or small an entry it would become. He ran a finger along the spine, feeling the curve where he had opened it one too many times. With a loving hand, he opened it up to one of the middle pages and read it over, a small growing on his face.

It was from his fourth year. The year he had met Fleur and Gabrielle. Of course, he could not forget Adrienne. Adrienne had been his most important person that year.

'For more reason than one.' He mused to himself with a fond smile. Adrienne had given Harry something very special that he still treasured to this day. Of course, he had returned the gift in full. Shaking his head, he looked around the room again, barely able to restrain the tears.

With a quick flick of his wand and a muttered "Tempus", he saw that there was still over four hours to the leaving feast. Glancing down at the book, he wondered if he had the time to go through it. 'Ahh screw it' he thought with a grin as he sat down in his old chair. It creaked familiarly as he adjusted himself to be comfortable and open the book up to the very first page, the page he had written before going to bed on his first night here in Hogwarts.

"1st of September, 1991. My first day in Hogwarts…" Harry read and slowly he felt the memories washing over him as a single tear slid down his cheek and over his smiling lips.

A/N: That was the Prologue out of the way! Tomorrow is Harry's first day of Hogwarts, and I can't wait for you all to see it!

-TheLemonsWillSeeYou