The pain did not disappear. His head, stomach and his back screamed out to him for relief from the searing agony. The beatings were nothing new to him, and he had started becoming accustomed to this pain as a normal part of his existence. His uncle had used his fists at first and then graduated to the belt. He had swung wildly not caring the damage it caused but only the end result of pain, which he took delight in.

Harry felt a familiar heat thrumming in his chest. Tonight, though the warmth started spreading throughout his body and slowly the pain lessened as it did this. If he could have seen his body, he would have been surprised to note that the bruises and abrasions slowly disappeared. He was ten years old today and a beating was his gift from his family.

The absence of the pain allowed him to find some measure of comfort, so he closed his eyes as sleep captured him.

A loud noise raised him from his slumber, as someone beat repeatedly on the cupboard door. As usual it was one of his jailers demanding he get up and prepare their breakfast or should he daresay buffet. The amount of food they consumed was several times larger portions than most normal people could stomach. He snorted to himself as he thought that jailer was the only correct way to refer to them. The physical abuse had gone on for years and when they figured he was old enough to understand, numerous threats to place him in an orphanage. He had read the stories of Oliver Twist and had feared the possibility at first, but now he often wondered to himself, 'Was it such a bad thing as compared to this hellhole where he now resides?'

He grunted as his body tried to combat the stiffness he felt from being crammed into such a small place and noted the light under the cupboard door as proof that morning had arrived. As usual his body had healed but the memory of the beating was thick in his throat. He stepped out slowly and his eyes registered the female beast of the trio that he lived with. He had tried being polite, submissive and all that he could to avoid the beatings, but nothing was ever good enough. He made up his mind, from this moment on that everything that they did to him he would one day repay with interest. What worse could they do to him?

He looked at her blankly, wondering absentmindedly why his aunt and uncle's appearance matched their personalities so well. She was a bony woman with a longer than normal neck and often wore a sneer on her face. His uncle was a fat almost walrus sized man with a thick neck which changed color with his mood and sweated easily. His cousin Dudley was overweight, and his appearance and mannerisms reminded him of a pig. An ugly bad-tempered pig.

His aunt noticed that he was not moving as quickly as he normally did, and she sneered at him disdainfully, "What are you looking at you freak?"

He said nothing but instead just looked at her with a blank expression. After hearing someone call you the same thing time after time he had stopped caring about the word a long time ago. So, what if she thought he was a freak. One day this same freak would have his day.

The slap that came was not surprising to him and it cemented within him that he no longer cared what they did. He turned his head slowly back towards her as he felt the skin on his cheek heating up as the blood rushed to the spot, clearly showing the mark where her hand had landed.

He laughed and taunted her, "That will not clear up anytime soon. What excuse will you give the neighbors to show that your delinquent of a nephew deserved this abuse.?"

Her face paled slightly as she remembered that they normally never hit him anywhere where it would be noticed. She recovered quickly and sputtered out, "Go fix breakfast you demon."

She ran up the stairs to talk to Vernon and to alert him to the new attitude their tenant had now taken towards them. He took his time cooking and made sure to eat a full portion of breakfast. He made up his mind that he would no longer allow himself to be starved, especially when his cousin was the size of a small blimp and his uncle was an adult sized version. He dumped the eggs bacon and toast on a platter and walked through the back door into the back yard and looked around the neighborhood.

The neighbor to his right was an old retired man who smoked a pipe on his back porch in the evenings when the temperature outside cooled down. He seldom spoke to anyone and would often stare into space at some scene that played out before his eyes only. He would stay fixated for sometimes hours with an angry expression on his face and sometimes tears as he stayed in that trance. He was not there this morning, so Harry turned his head to look at the house on the other side of the fence.

The neighbor to the left of his house was a young man from the Caribbean who had moved in within the last month. He was in his early twenties and seemed to be the quiet sort. He spoke with a rich accent and always greeted anyone he met. He had been polite but distant, when the neighbors had introduced themselves. His skin was the shade of a walnut and he had a round nose and a friendly smile whenever he interacted with his neighbors. He was solidly built, of average height and exuded a self confidence that he found appealing. He was always polite but never indulged in relaying any personal information to the nosy housewives in the neighborhood. They knew he was a teacher and that he was from somewhere in the Caribbean but not much else.

He had cultivated the hedges around his new home until they were in pristine shape and kept them well trimmed. His lawn was kept neatly trimmed and he was always doing some sort of work in his garden. He had built a greenhouse in his back garden and Harry often wondered what he would grow in it. He often used two machetes, between three to four feet long as he trimmed the hedges. His hands moved in unison and effortlessly swung them in a hypnotic motion, as leaves and branches were quickly removed to leave a uniform and surprisingly neat hedge behind him for the tools he used.

His name was Julian and he looked up briefly and shouted "Wuddup young fella." His hands never stopped their movements as he acknowledged young Harry. Harry waved back with a grin as he watched the rapid actions of the machetes as they effortlessly moved in synch to complete the rapid and skilled trimming before him.

Harry briefly wished for half of the skill Julian wielded the blades with, and the power and opportunity to use them on the Dursleys.

He was jerked roughly back by a rough hand on his right shoulder. He turned slightly and looked at the owner of the hand and with a nonchalant voice said, "Hello uncle Jailer." The blow was not a surprise to him as his head was thrown back with a roundhouse punch. He landed roughly on the ground and felt the blood trickling down his bruised but unbroken nose. His uncle stepped menacingly forward, his fat face red and already sweating profusely, as his eyes silently declared his intent to hand out a serious beating.

Vernon stopped suddenly as a cold calm voice stilled his movements," What do you think you are doing you fat cunt?"

Harry laughed quietly despite the pain as his uncle's face turned pale, realizing that someone had seen his actions and then flushed purple with anger as he realized that he had been insulted.

"This is none of your business," he blustered out as he realized that today was not going well for the Dursley household.

His face paled as he realized that the young man from next door had moved right up to the fence and was staring at him with both machetes resting on his shoulder, with the sharp blades reflecting the early sunlight. He tried playing off his actions as he blustered out, "He verbally abused my wife, so I was just trying to discipline him."

Julian's eyes never left his as he calmly stated, "That is not a good enough reason to justify an overweight cunt like you hitting a young boy with your fists like that."

Vernon's face started to darken again as he decided to try to intimidate the young man as he blustered out, "I am a manager at Grunnings Drills young man, and a word from me to the police sergeant friend of mine, could see your life getting very difficult."

The man's face twitched, and he laughed dismissively at the threat. "Help is of no use to a dead man and if you try to threaten me again, know that I can and will make you disappear without anyone questioning my whereabouts or involvement."

He said all of this in a calm forthright manner and his face remained blank as if he was discussing the weather.

Vernon paled as he realized that this man had meant every word he said. He twirled around and grabbed Harry and shouted at him, "Did you hear him threaten me boy?"

Harry looked him dead in the eye and sneered, "I heard nothing due to the ringing in my ear from your cuff to my face."

Vernon realized that it was unlikely that his freak of a nephew would support him as a witness and decided to try to bargain with the man. "Listen, maybe we got off to the wrong start. How about we just pretend none of this ever happened and we just go about our business as before?"

Julian looked him dead in the eye and calmly promised him, "If I ever see you hit or abusing that young man like that again, I can guarantee you that the treatment you mete out to him will be returned tenfold unto you. I am educated about and intimately aware of the law. I will personally ensure that an investigation is launched into the treatment of this young man and if it is found that this treatment is the norm, you can kiss your freedom and your job goodbye. If there is no justice dealt I will personally deal it out myself." He turned to Harry and spoke gently to him, "Come with me to get that bruise treated." Harry walked to the waist high fence and was lifted easily over by his neighbor as they both walked away leaving Vernon there in a state of shock.

As Harry walked with him he briefly wondered 'Where had the machetes disappeared to?'

Vernon rushed inside to alert Petunia as to what had happened. She was sitting at the table with Dudley slowly eating a slice of toast, while Dudley was wolfing down almost everything on the platter, that Harry had placed there. He panted out the recent events to her, she instantly paled as she realized that their reputation was in danger if the story got out and maybe much worse if they were investigated. She panicked even more as she realized that the cupboard and a medical examination of the boy would quickly reveal their mistreatment. She sighed as she looked over at their son, "We have no choice but to put the boy in the fourth bedroom and to change the way we treat him. Maybe if we try reasoning with Julian, we can keep this incident quiet." She met her husband's eyes and they decided to wait until Harry returned to get an idea as to how to go about resolving the issue.

When she had met him, she had been fascinated by his deep voice and his accent but like the other women in the neighborhood he kept her at arm's length and she knew little about him.

MEANWHILE NEXT DOOR

Harry was sitting at a small table inside Julian's kitchen with the ice pack pressed against his face trying to ensure that the swelling would be minimal. His eyes wandered all over the kitchen as he was trying to understand why someone had finally defended him. He barely knew this neighbor and he had already noticed the abuse and had taken swift action.

Julian sat across the table from him with his hands behind his head, as he stared at the ceiling with a blank expression on his face. Harry was startled from his observations when he heard him speak softly.

"Is this the first time he has done this to you?"

Harry stilled at the question. He had been four years old when his relatives had started beating him and referring to him as a freak. The beatings had been consistent despite him doing most of the chores in the house, and nothing he had done had been good enough. Doing well in school had gotten him accused of cheating. His cousin had gotten into trouble many times but no matter what he did or even if he was in front of witnesses, he still ended up being blamed. He had wondered many times if there was something wrong with the world or just him as none of it made sense. He was nine years old and way too small for his age and no one noticed. He was very small from not being able to eat properly and he had never thought to seek help, even though he had realized that what was happening to him was wrong. His head started hurting him where the lightning shaped scar on his head was and he grabbed his forehead as the scar started throbbing painfully.

Julian jumped up and removed Harry's hand as he stared at the throbbing mass that rippled underneath the scar as he got nearer to it. He did not know what influenced him to do it as he placed his hand firmly around the scar and squeezed it hard. The scar emitted a piercing scream and exploded outwards as a thick black liquid shot out of it as Harry passed out in shock. When the liquid touched his hand it swiftly evaporated with a scream and a small face appeared with red eyes as it glared at him with a fearful expression before disappearing.

"OK then, that was weird and dare I say, even freaky," Julian muttered to himself.

He lifted Harry up and placed him on the couch and went to the bathroom to collect some alcohol and cotton swabs to wipe off the blood that had appeared after the scar had been exorcised. HE set about preparing breakfast as he waited for Harry to regain consciousness.

As he finally finished preparing an omelet with toast he heard a crack outside of his house and he walked to his door to investigate.

An old man with a long waist length beard, wearing what looked like a purple bathrobe burst through his door, pointed a short stick at him and muttered, "Stupefy." A red light hit him squarely in the chest as he blinked twice, stared down at his chest and then looked up at the crazy old man who looked astonished. The old man then panicked as Julian summoned his machetes to his hands. He grasped them tightly and started moving towards the old man who seeing this, started to panic and shot many more multi colored lights at him. He felt nothing as they hit him, then made a snap decision to avoid killing the intruder and dropped them to the floor. 'Dead men cannot answer questions after all,' he thought grimly to himself.

Julian grabbed the old man by his long beard with his left hand and used his right fist to hammer his fist into his stomach. The old man slumped over as the air rushed out of him and dropped the stick as Julian landed punches all over his body until he was dropped unceremoniously to the floor.

Julian snorted as he realized that the old fart had lost consciousness and landed a kick between his legs as a final memento. He remained unconscious, but his body shuddered as the blow landed.

He looked up and noticed that Vernon and Petunia were standing at his open front door, stunned and staring at the man lying unconscious on the floor of his living room. He glared at them and bluntly asked, "What the hell is going on and do you know who this weirdo is?"

Vernon looked at him and placed his hands spread apart palms up as a sign of non-aggression and started talking quickly. He told him a story of magic, of finding Petunia's nephew placed outside of his door in a basket years ago, the inability to understand how to deal with a magical child and their frustrations at having to bear the cost of feeding and clothing Harry. They had beat him early on and his magical outbursts had stopped. They had realized that when he was well fed and healthy, the outbursts were frequent, and they were often forced to witness strange things happening all around them. Household appliances would stop working and things in their house would change shape and changed to weird inexplicable colors. They had spent thousands of pounds to constantly repair the house and they had no way of reaching the wizarding world for help.

Harry had awoken during the beginning of their story and listened quietly to their recount of growing up with him. He gasped silently as he realized that he was apparently magical. He was filled with apathy, as he listened to their reasons for his mistreatment. He resolved to take control of his life and never allow anyone to mistreat him like that again. There was a slight golden glow around him after he quietly vowed this to himself. His chest throbbed and what he now realized was his magic sung to him with silent assurances.

Julian groaned to himself as he wondered if emigrating from Barbados had been worth all this hassle. He had studied history and mathematics at university and had come to England seeking a what he thought was a bright future in the teaching profession. His uncle was a long-time teacher in England and had sponsored him to come to England and ensured that he got a foot in the door for the job interview. He had impressed the board during the process and had been welcomed wholeheartedly by the students when he started.

He focused on applying knowledge versus just acquiring it to regurgitate it. He also encouraged them to explain things to one another during study sessions to ensure that they had a good grasp of the subjects. His belief was that if you can teach it to others then you have a better understanding of it. He sat down with them and taught them good study habits and why it was important to go over work even after that topic had already been completed. His students had outperformed the others in the same year level and he had finally been given the job permanently.

He was jarred from his thoughts when the old man on the ground started to stir. He eyed the old man on the ground balefully and kicked the stick away from him as he started to stir.

ALBUS POV

Albus Dumbledore groaned as he slowly regained consciousness. He remembered hearing an alarm from the instruments monitoring #4 Privet Drive, and he had grabbed his wand and apparated there to check up on the status of Harry Potter. He had cast a location spell and after realizing that Harry was not at number four, he had cast the unlocking charm on the house his magical signature registered at and burst inside the house seeking to subdue whomever had him and rescue Harry. He had remembered sending out a stunning spell at the muggle he saw standing there and then being shocked after realizing that it did not affect him.

He panicked when he saw him summon two short swords from nowhere and had blasted him with a wide variety of spells that had not affected him in the least. He had almost sighed in relief when the young man dropped the swords, but the alternative was still painful as his sore body reminded him. He winced as his groin throbbed and he realized that he had been hit there as well. He stared up into three hostile faces and reached instinctively for his wand. He panicked slightly when he realized that it was out of his reach and prayed that he would be able to talk his way out of this situation.

JULIAN POV

Julian glared at the old bastard that had broken into his home and attacked him, and even worse in his opinion was wearing an ugly purple bathrobe as if he had now stepped out of the shower. He smiled inwardly when he saw him reaching for his stick but kept his expression blank, as he awaited an explanation.

The old man identified himself as Albus Dumbledore and immediately demanded his wand be returned to him. After Julian manifested his two machetes the demands swiftly disappeared as he quickly started talking. When he was questioned as to his reasons for entering his house he talked all around the issue without giving a straight answer. He gave a vague response about getting an alarm that Harry was in danger. When questioned about why he had not aided Vernon and Petunia, he gave no real answers, and assured them that everything was under control and that it would all work out. He made no real promises and talked all out of his ass with vague answers and assurances. Julian sighed as he recognized the speech patterns of a career politician who specialized in long conversations with loads of bullshit dumped freely around and no real substance or answers.

Finally, Julian got tired of his obnoxious voice and slapped the two machetes together to quiet his blathering. He promised him that if he saw him back in the area without a good reason or without real answers that his reward would be much more generous than he had gotten this time. He allowed him to collect his wand as he referred to it as and made him leave his house and watched the old man drag himself outside to teleport away.

He turned to Vernon and Petunia and lambasted them, "There is never any reason to take out your frustrations and anger on a small child. Did you ever think that when he became an adult he may have decided to kill, hurt or maim your family as revenge for the treatment that you gave to him?"

They flinched and paled as they realized that his behavior today was already indicative of the fact that he had decided to rebel against their mistreatment. They looked at each other and shivered, wordlessly acknowledging that unless they had killed him they would have had to face a trained wizard who hated them had they continued their actions. They looked at the couch as Harry sat up, the dead look in his eyes when he looked at them caused their stomachs to clench in fear, as they saw that he actively despised them. They apologized profusely to him and backed away slowly and practically ran out the door to their home to avoid the baleful gaze he gave them.

Julian sighed and took up the cotton swabs and alcohol and tended silently to the slowly disappearing scar on Harry's forehead. The only sound that could be heard was the ticking of the clock as they were both lost in their thoughts. The stinging of the alcohol did not even register to Harry, as he went over everything that he had witnessed and heard. Julian was lost in thoughts as he tried to figure out why none of the magic had affected him.

Finally, Harry asked him, "Why do I feel numb even after I got the answer as to why they treated me like that? I hate them, yet I don't really care about them anymore now that I have answers as to why?

Julian walked to the armchair and sat down, he reclined in the chair and reached over to the coffee table to collect a notebook and a pen and tossed them to Harry.

"I will be talking a lot and much of what I say you may not understand right away or you may have questions about it. Make a note of what you hear me say and any questions you may have and ask me when I am finished. I don't like losing my thread of thought and I ask that you withhold any real questions to when I am finished."

Harry nodded with a serious expression on his face and opened the notebook and readied himself to take notes.

"Observe carefully, analyze wisely and then take action in a manner that you will least regret. Human beings are flawed creatures and are not easy to understand. Very few people will sacrifice to do something for someone else without expecting or demanding some reward in return. Emotions are a part of us all but should never be acted upon without giving thought to the consequences those actions could bring. The love of a parent or family and sometimes friends are some of the few times you will see people sacrificing for others without expectations of reward. Your family chose to take their fear and frustration out on you. What has happened cannot be changed but what you do in response to their actions now is up to you. I will not tell you to forgive them or what you should do, but to make a decision based on what you are comfortable with as a person, and to be aware of the consequences of any action you take."

Harry nodded to himself as he made notes according to what he understood. He underlined "Advice is useful but the choices I make I have to be comfortable with them."

Julian stared into the ceiling and continued speaking quietly.

"I believe in forgiveness but only when the person is truly repentant for their actions. We all make mistakes but only those who learn from their mistakes will truly mature and grow as individuals. I do not believe in forgetting what wrongs people have done against you, but in letting go of the anger and bitterness it brings about in you. These emotions negatively impact you in the long term if not dealt with properly. It is good to have knowledge, but it is better to know when and how to use that knowledge. Christians have a verse in their Bible that says, 'knowledge puffs up' and I have personally seen that this is true from my experiences. Figure out who you are and where you want to go and never let anyone, or anything stop you from achieving that which you are truly capable of. Real friends will encourage you to be the best you can be but beware of vampires whether they be emotional or otherwise. They will seek to take from you and will give nothing in return. Do not be afraid to mess up but seek to learn from when you do and see how you can do things better the next time. Education is a tool and what you use it for is up to you."

Julian paused and got up to get a glass of water to sooth his dry throat.

Harry stared at the notebook that he had been writing in and some of what Julian had said made sense, but other things had gone over his head. He shrugged and decided that he would do some research at the library to help him understand what he had missed.

Julian sat down across from Harry and passed him a tall, cold glass of water. Harry drank it slowly as he wondered what direction his life would take considering all that he had learned today.

Julian gazed at Harry out of the corner of his eye and noticed that his forehead scar was mostly gone but for a small mark. He looked up at the plaque over his fireplace with the phrase his grandmother had made him memorize and recite from when he was a young man just out of his diapers, 'No weapon formed against me shall prosper.'

She had prayed with him every night until she had passed away from a stroke five years later and he had kept on praying in memory of his granny who always ensured that she let him know that he was loved.

Julian reached over and shook Harry gently to bring him out his thoughts. He asked him to make notes of what he had learned today of his past and what he wanted to find out or understand that he did not yet know.

Harry looked at him pensively and nodded. The pen moved quickly over the page as he noted:

What is magic?

What can I do with it and what are its limitations?

What really happened to my parents?

How will magic affect my life and will it be for good or bad?

Did my parents leave an estate or some sort of information for me about my heritage?

Julian glanced at his notes and nodded. "That is a good start and you don't need to get all of your answers right away. In the meantime, figure out what you want for yourself and what do you wish to accomplish with your life? There is no deadline with regards to that as you are still young but the more answers you have, the easier it is to chart out the path you will take. You can lie down on the couch and relax while I go and talk to your family."

Harry nodded and slowly plodded over to the couch and collapsed into it as his body now started demanding that he go to sleep.

Julian got up and walked through the front door to have a long conversation with Vernon and Petunia Dursley.