Disclaimer: Anything you recognise does not belong to me it belongs to the brilliant J.K. Rowling.

Also from Chapter 3 onwards the chapters get longer, sorry for the short start!

Chapter 1- A Summons from Dumbledore

July 31st 1993

Harry stared at the creased letter on his rickety desk. One could be forgiven for thinking that the letter itself had been written many years ago due to the many creases that he had caused by repeatedly reading it over the past few days. For once, it was not the brutish nature of his Uncle, nor the shrill voice of his aunt that filled him with anxiety as they usually did during the summer. No. This anxiety was solely due to the contents of the letter.

He picked it up once more and read.

Dear Harry,

My Boy, as you are aware your 13th Birthday will soon be occurring and it is vital I meet with you as soon as possible to discuss your inheritance from your parents. My apologies for being vague but due to the current situation a short note is best and I shall explain in full when we meet.

On the 31st of July, at 10am I ask you to walk out into Privet Drive and raise your wand straight out. A large bus will appear and you must simply state your destination and pay the fee, ask to go to the leaky cauldron and then proceed up to Gringotts to a teller and state that you are here for the 10:15 meeting with myself and Sharpclaw. I shall then explain more.

Yours truly and apologetically,

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore

'What the bloody hell is on about now' Harry muttered to himself, Hedwig gave a hoot and seemed to stare at him in disapproval. He glanced over at the clock, only ten more minutes until he had to leave. 'Well I guess will soon find out' he stated, standing to get ready. His annoyance with the Headmaster of Hogwarts had been growing and growing since the end of his second year, the man refused to tell Harry the full truth of Voldemort and his connection to him and had insisted that he had to return to the Dursley's for summer. He was hoping this meeting would clarify certain issues otherwise his anger would continue to boil over.

His main fear right now was the inheritance issue Dumbledore mentioned, surely there wasn't an issue with his trust vault?; again Harry's mind clouded with anger at Dumbledore being vague as usual. In his first and second year Harry had admired the Wizard, loving the caring presence he seemed to exude yet as second year drew to a close he started to question things.

Why did Dumbledore do so little? Not only in relation to the bullying that Harry faced from his supposed peers at school but from Snape and the other teachers. Considering Hogwarts was meant to be the 'premier' magic school in Europe according to Hermione, who of course memorised it from Hogwarts a History, you'd think that the staff would be more supportive and less cruel. When Hagrid had knocked down the door to the rickety shack a few years ago Harry had hoped it would be a chance to escape his miserable life and find acceptance. Of course he had been wrong.

Escaping the stifling home of his relatives was an easier task as they had left him alone whilst they went for a shopping trip to get new clothes for Dudley, according to Aunt Petunia it was the fault of the washing machine that shrunk his clothes. She never even thought that it could be because her precious "Dudders" would shovel food into his gullet at a rate that even Ron would find disgusting.

Since he didn't have to be up early to cook their breakfast he slept in a little too long as he had to abandon his half opened presents so he could leave.

Harry stepped to the pavement, quickly checking there were no muggles paying attention near-by, and raised his hand out in front of him.

BANG! A few seconds later a large purple triple-decker bus appeared in front of him sending him to the ground. Harry groaned and fixed his glasses, standing he looked at the conductor at the front.

'A'wright, names Stan Shunpike where you of't then' the pimple faced, lanky conductor asked Harry as he dusted off his jeans.

'Err the leaky cauldron, that's in London' Harry stated.

Stan snorted, 'Oh really who wud've thought', ' 'ere that Ern, Leaky Cauldron in London of all places' he continued sarcastically. He looked at Harry who merely stared him down unwilling to rise to Stan's bait.

'Sound then' he mumbled noticing Harry's unamused face 'that'll be 11 Sickles unless yer wanna bed an hot chocolate?'

Harry just handed him the 11 Sickles and went to take a seat, at least until Stand yelled 'Take 'er away Ern!' and Harry was thrown to the floor as the bus sped off as quick as a broomstick.

He managed to stabilise himself and held on to a bar, glaring at Stan.

After a turbulent 5-minute journey of Harry cursing each time he was thrown about, causing the woman near him to tut and shake her head. He finally got off the hellish Knight bus and walked into the Leaky Cauldron.

The pub itself resembled something out of a Dicken's novel, yet was always bustling with energy being the main gateway into Diagon Alley. Seeing Tom was free at the bar he walked over to ask him to open the barrier.

The barkeep smiled, 'Sure thing. Just follow me'

Harry took note of the pattern in which Tom tapped his wand on the brick wall so he did not have to ask next time.

Quickly thanking Tom, Harry walked through the barrier and made his way up the winding street, dodging the Witches and Wizards that were also in the Alley. It came to Harry that this had been the first time he had been there by himself and made sure to take note of any shops that seemed interesting. He particularly fancied a look in 'Occult Opticians' but figured it would be best to come back later.

He walked through the gates of Gringotts, trying to put on a façade of confidence as he walked past the two visible Goblin Warriors. Hagrid had always warned him about the dangers of Goblins so he thought it best to avoid staring at them.

Looking at the large golden clock that hung on the farthest wall he saw he was on time and made his way to a free Goblin.

Grumbling the Goblin demanded 'State your business young Wizard'

'I'm here to meet Albus Dumbledore and Sharpclaw' he responded in a slightly affronted at the tone.

The Goblin looked at Harry more closely, focusing on his scar.

'Name' he drawled.

'Harry Potter' he replied in a slightly lower volume. He did not want a repeat of the actions of the public like they did last year when Lockhart pulled Harry to the front to take photos for the press.

'Very well. Snazzlefoot!' the teller barked and another Goblin hurried to where Harry was standing.

'Take Mr. Potter to meeting room 5' he continued.

'Follow me Mr. Potter' the seemingly younger Goblin said, judging by the smaller number of wrinkles on his face, and walked off down a corridor.

Thankfully the walk was only short and they came to a stop in front of the meeting room.

'Well' he mumbled to himself, 'let's hope we get some fucking answers'.

He knocked on the door.

AN: Hey anyone who is reading this. So this is my first attempt at fanfiction and I wanted to have ago at the whole Harry becomes Lord Potter trope. But I don't want to make him ridiculously rich and powerful and master magic within 2 hours of becoming Lord Potter. Hell to the no. This will be a slower story focusing on Harry's independence and how far he will go to get that .

One thing with fanfiction that annoys me is how Harry is often presented as someone who just goes a long with what everyone else is doing and rarely challenges his friend when they are in the wrong. In this you will see Harry is much easier to rile up and less likely to forgive.

On Dumbledore: My feelings towards Dumbledore are complex in that fanfiction has twisted my mind to see him as this evil manipulative man who sees his way as the only way. In this that wont happen, don't get me wrong there will be elements of him acting in a way that will annoy Harry but this will not be a Dumbledore/ Hermione/ Weasley bashing fic.

This story has a focus on Harry learning his place and role in society and how he reacts to such, and the friends and relationships he finds on the way.

Currently pairings are undecided.

Anyway, hope you'll stick around for Chapter 2 and give it a chance!