Good Afternoon!

I hope all of you enjoyed your weekend (which is sadly almost over, le sigh).

Not a whole lot to say here. As I have mentioned before, this is going to be slower paced than my other story and there will definitely be a good bit of the MC sitting in his backpack making plots. I feel like there is a lot that a character could do before entering Hogwarts, and I believe too many authors just time skip to Hogwarts and miss out on possibilities. I think at this point, pretty much every rendition of Hogwarts has been done, though I think mine will be a less traveled path considering the overly used faces will not be present.

Please do drop a review if you think about it, I would like to get some more feedback from this story if possible. As always though, please refrain from saying unkind things as that typically kills my writing drive rather effectively.

As always, please ignore any errors you come across and do enjoy yourself.

I slammed the old spell book down in frustration as I came up empty again. Unfortunately, finding the details on probably the biggest cheat spell in the Harry Potter Universe was no easy task. It was a shame that they didn't adopt the "muggle" view on such things and put all information in plain view with the knowledge that most people couldn't utilize the dangerous stuff. After all, it's not very hard to find out how to build an atomic bomb on the internet; the posters are mostly counting on the fact that anyone with the wherewithal to acquire several kilograms of weapons grade plutonium and the intelligence to assemble the thing is probably going to find an instruction manual along the way without needing to use their website.

Unfortunately, the magical world was still in the dark ages in terms of technology, making something like a list of spells on the internet a pipe dream at best. Instead they were relegated to books full of spells on their respective topic. As with most hard copy resources, not only is finding what you are searching for often a chore, but the text is filled with tons of useless space fillers. Sure, there MAY be some wizard out there that was looking for a spell to charm a kangaroo, but why dedicate multiple pages to a spell that only a few wizards would ever need?

The one reference I had seen to the Fidelius Spell was in passing, and the text made the unhelpful observation that it was "the pinnacle of charmwork, only to be attempted by a master level practitioner". There was no mention of the incantation or the motions, only the vague reference that it was probably way outside my league magically speaking.

I suppose it made sense in a way; if everyone was able to use the spell casually, even the dunderheads in Harry Potter cannon would have spammed the spell at every opportunity. Imagine a spell that allowed you to walk down the street, kill someone casually and walk off in the ensuing chaos without a care. If you used yourself as the secret keeper, it would literally be the perfect crime since magic itself would hide the concept of your existence from all the wizards present.

Not that I would abuse the spell in that manner of course.

Shaking my head, I got back to work.

It was becoming increasingly obvious to me that the most useful spells in this Universe would be out of my reach for quite a while. I needed advanced magic NOW, but my core just couldn't handle it even if I crammed in the theory within a few months.

An idea came to me; certainly a very dangerous one, but what was reward without a little risk?

Setting aside the books, I checked the time and considered my options. While it was foolhardy to rush dangerous enterprises, this one was going to be risky no matter how I played it. I had my personal house elf monitoring the Blacks discreetly, enough to know that their social calendar was clear for the next few weeks. There was no doubt that young Sirius was home at the black Manor.

The largest problem would be the Black estate. I had no doubt that it was absolutely drenched in nasty enchantments that would peel the flesh from your bones before you got within 100 yards of the mansion. I would need someone extremely competent to get through those wards... or at least expendable.

Thus one name had immediately popped into my head.

While I was still undecided about the idea of outright eliminating my "father", it wasn't my fault if he got killed on a foolish lapse of judgement now was it? I'm sure whatever muggles he had gleefully tortured to death with his buddies would agree with my logic.

I immediately began drawing out a game plan on my thought board. A simple cunfundo charm followed by an Imperious would allow me to seize control of his body and see if he was able to cast the fidelius charm. If not, I would mind wipe him and slosh some liquor on him at his desk (it wouldn't be the first time he found himself in a similar position). I was no expert on the mind wipe charm, despite it being one of the few overpowered spells I was able to cast at my young age. I would have to be prepared for him to lose a month or so of time without any explanation, given that I couldn't risk putting too little power into the spell.

I paced as the different scenarios played out in my head, occasionally making notes as new variables presented themselves.

I began to write plans, backup plans and contingencies. My largest hurdle to the plan succeeding (in the unlikely event that everything went according to plan) was what to do with Sirius. Raising a child at 7 would be quite the daunting task, especially while attending all the tutoring sessions I had planned. Even if I could have my personal house elf take care of him, it would be cruel to deprive him of a family setting or friends so that I could hide him from prying eyes.

I tapped my fingers on the desk as I considered the issue. Obviously, magical families would be out. Anyone in the magical world would soon hear of the missing heir to the Black legacy, and there would no doubt be a very sizable reward for his return. A family like the Potters might have considered it if I could prove the future abuse to them, but that was rather impossible for obvious reasons. Much as some of the Light families disdained the Blacks, their very nature would keep them from denying a family their child, regardless of their politics.

The muggle foster system would be a bloody nightmare, look how that had worked out for Tom. If the Grangers were older I would have gladly fostered him with them, but they were children themselves at this time. Well, I would consider it. For now, the most important point would be removing him from those abusive monsters before they could begin their long campaign of traumatizing the boy.

With that in mind, I resolutely outfitted myself as before when I had confronted my father about the tutoring. My heart pounded as I began walking to my father's office, fear turning my hands ice cold as my fingers clenched on my Walnut Wand.

I opened the door without knocking.

"Finally son, you are starting to show a little backbone! Here a little early to discuss today's lesson?"

I spoke past my closing throat as panic rose in my chest.

"Indeed father, let me show you one passage I was having particular trouble with."

"Are you alright Lucius? Something appears to be troubling you son." Abraxus asked in a concerned manner.

I closed my eyes briefly as I reminded myself what this man did with his leisure time, and who he did it with.

"Yes father, i'm just tired from studying last night."

The man chuckled as he shook his head in resignation.

"How many times must I tell you not to push yourself Lucius? It will all come in time. Now, what is this question you had? Perhaps on the application of the blood boiling curse? That's always been one of my favorites."

Steeling myself, my eyes hardened as I quickly raised my wand and cast at my shocked father.

"Cunfundo!"

Abraxus got a glazed look in his eyes even as his hand dropped away from where his wand was stashed in his robes.

I took a few deep breaths as I prepared to cast the unforgivable; this would be a bit more tricky.

"Imperio!"

Abraxus slammed his weakened will against mine as I gritted my teeth. Fortunately, my will was stronger than his mixture of utter confusion and betrayal as we fought for control of his mind and body. Suddenly it was over, much like a tug of war battle ends rather abruptly.

"Cast the fidelius charm on yourself!" I ordered.

Abraxus stood there, not moving an inch. Damnit, it appears that he did not know the spell. Or more likely, he wasn't powerful or skilled enough to pull off the casting. Either way, it looked like I was back at the drawing board.

I cast the memory charm and released the Imperio spell even as Abraxus slumped to the desk in a passed out state. Apparently, losing a battle of wills and then being memory wiped really took it out of you. After a careful application of firewhisky on his clothes and desk, I woke him up with a worried face.

"Father, it's time to wake up!"

Abraxus woke in a dazed state, his eyes squinted as he looked around in confusion.

"What's going on? I don't even know how I got into the study."

I rolled my eyes at him.

"How many times has mother told you to lay off the firewhisky father? We are lucky that she is visiting her family, otherwise she would likely have a good many thing to say."

Abraxus winced and looked at me imploringly.

"This one was pretty bad, I can't believe I passed out. Can you keep a secret Lucius? I'll owe you one."

I ignored the heavy feelings of guilt as I came him a fake smile.

"Of course father, it will be our little secret."

Abraxus chuckled.

"That's my boy! Off to bed you little scamp, looks like it's already pretty late. I'll have a double lesson with you tomorrow to make up for tonight, i'm in no position to teach currently."

Shaking his head in disgust with himself, Abraxus summoned a house elf to clean up the mess and began scouring his clothes with a simple spell.

Trembling a bit as the adrenaline wore off, I made my way back into the study as I fought off panic. I know, it sounds really pathetic, but unless you have been in an extremely dangerous situation before don't judge. I wish I still had the bottle of firewhisky with me to calm my nerves. Settling myself back in my room, I grabbed a few butterbeers and savored the sweet taste as it ran down my throat.

As I sat there, I pondered the psychology behind what I was experiencing. Logically speaking, if I died I knew I would likely go back to some lobby somewhere to retry things again. Unfortunately though, my brain had started to accept this as "reality" to the point that a lot of the old instincts were still very applicable, including survival instincts. People always fantasize about how they could go back to grade school years and "rule the school" with all the knowledge they possessed. Those same people often shuffle around awkwardly at class reunions, much the same as they did in their original high school years at any gathering.

It was easy to do crazy things in video games, because you knew all of it wasn't real. GTA V in particular would have labelled me as the next Hannibal Lecter (particularly on Trevor missions) if it was some sort of alternative universe instead of a collection of programmed game code.

That's why this reality bothered me so much, because it didn't feel at all like a simulation. Was it really so unlikely that the all powerful afterlife had transported me to a newly created reality where everyone here felt the same way about their life as I had at my previous one?

I swigged some more butter beer as a nice sugar buzz set in; it didn't take much for my small six year old body. The best part about butter beer rushes is that they didn't lead to nasty crashes, don't ask me how.

I erased the current drawing board without bothering to fully commit it to memory; the current plan was a bust. I left a few of the contingencies up in the unlikely event that Abraxus ever became aware of my involvement in tonight's activities; hopefully they wouldn't be necessary.

I would obviously need a very powerful practitioner to pull this off, ideally one without a whole lot of scruples to get in the way. The problem therein though was that said unscrupulous person would likely stab me in the back at the first available opportunity. On the flip side, some goody two shoes like Albus Dumbledore would (probably) never stoop to kidnapping a child and placing them elsewhere; i'm sure Harry was a one time thing.

I considered his brother Abeforth, but he had a bigger stick up his ass than Albus did when it came to bending the law. More importantly, the odds of being able to magically overpower either of them with an imperious would likely not be on the table for a few decades at least.

There was one man though who would not balk at the ethics of the idea, though he was currently imprisoned in his own castle at Austria.

Rubbing my nonexistent beard out of habit, I considered my options. It was obvious that at this stage, I wouldn't be able to save Sirius just yet. I HATED the idea of him having to deal with his relatives (even if he wouldn't remember most of it), but my ending up in Azkaban for some failed attempt would only ensure he have to repeat the same trauma as the original canon. If I buckled down with my tutors and worked on a plan for a year or two, I could have him sprung while he was still young enough to forget most of it. I would have to move fast though, if I waited until he was four or five it would likely be much harder to accept being separated from his birth parents. At least for the first few years, I suspected Sirius would mostly be nannied by the house elf's more than he would interacts with his birth parents, much as had been the case with me.

I reluctantly shelved Operation: Rescue Sirius for now as I turned back to my tutoring prospects and began going over the various dossiers. Potions tutor I left up to Abraxus; while the ability to brew them would be useful, I could always buy what I needed rather than spend weeks slaving over a simple blood replenishing potion. Charms I wanted someone like Flitwick, but I knew Abraxus would turn his nose up at the idea due to his prejudices. Perhaps the most crucial was the Defense against the Dark arts/dueling tutor. I would have loved to get mad eye moody, but unfortunately I don't remember him being much older than the Original Lucius in cannon.

Suddenly a rather devilish idea came to me. Who better to tutor me on how to defeat him than my future enemy? Besides, teaching Defense Against the Dark arts had been his obsession at one point before Dumbledore had vetoed the idea.

I realized this was playing with fire to the extreme; assuming he DID go for it (which was a rather low possibility) I would have to be very careful to not appear TOO powerful. The last thing I wanted was for Tommy boy to get anxious about me before I could do anything about it.

Grinning, I added "Lord Voldemort" at the top of my list for potential tutors.