A/N: This is my first fan fiction story. Reviews are appreciated. There will be Ron/Hermione/Dumbledore bashing in this story.

Disclaimer:

The Harry Potter universe and all the characters in it belong to J. K. Rowling.

Chapter 1 Realizations

It was the beginning of the summer vacation and you could hear the children laughing and playing outdoors. For Harry Potter, the-boy-who-lived, summer meant misery. You see, the Dursley's hated him because he could do magic and they considered that an abnormality. They called him a freak and made him do chores all day. They even told the neighbors that he went to St. Brutus's Secure Centre for Incurably Criminal Boys.

When Harry reminded the Dursley's at Kings Cross Station that Sirius Black was his godfather, they became worried and treated him slightly better. They allowed him to keep the trunk and wand in his room. They even gave him slightly larger portions of food but despite the improvements, he was still lonely and depressed.

On a rainy day in July, July third to be exact, he was allowed to stay indoors. However, Aunt Petunia still made him clean the house until it was spotless. After eating a decent amount of food, he trudged up the stairs and entered his room. He glanced towards his alarm clock which read 10:00 P.M and began to do his nightly routine. He lay down on his lumpy mattress staring up at the ceiling, hoping that he wouldn't fall asleep and see Cedric Diggory get hit with the killing curse and the subsequent ritual that was used to provide Lord Voldemort with a new body.

"No! Don't kill Cedric. Don't kill Cedric–Stop!"

"Shut up freak! We're trying to get some sleep here."

Vernon Dursley's voice penetrated through the fog of his nightmare. He found himself shaking and his clothes plastered to him. When he clambered out of bed, he quickly went to the bathroom and vomited in the toilet.

When he returned to his room and climbed back onto his bed, he knew he wouldn't fall asleep again so he just lay there thinking about the last 4 years of his life. In his first year, he saved the philosopher's stone with some help from Ron and Hermione. In his second year, he saved Ginny down in the Chamber of Secrets from a basilisk and from being possessed by a diary. In his third year, he found out that Sirius Black was innocent and finally, he was forced to participate in the Tri Wizard tournament. Due to his participation, he was kidnapped and witnessed the return of Voldemort.

'It seems that every year, I get in to some trouble and somehow, I end up surviving. You know, it looks like some of the events were orchestrated behind my back. No 11 year old should have been able to bypass all the traps guarding the stone unless Dumbledore was trying to test me. And how did he not realize that people were petrified by the Basilisk? I seem to recall that Sirius wasn't given a fair trial. Since Dumbledore was the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, he could have given him a proper trial to prove his innocence. I wonder how binding that contract was considering the fact that I didn't enter the competition.'

He pondered those suspicious events in his mind and eventually, he realized that Dumbledore was manipulating him. He also knew that he was weak and needed to train so that he could fight back and protect others.

At exactly 6:30 A.M, Harry got up and made his way down to the kitchen to make breakfast for his relatives. As he was placing the food down on the table, he heard Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia and Dudley stampeding down stairs and into the kitchen.

"We have a list of chores for you to do today. If you don't finish all of them by the end of the day, you won't get any more food today. You understand me boy?"

Yes uncle Vernon," Harry replied with an expressionless voice. He picked up the list and quickly read it.

1. Wash the dishes.

2. Clean the floor.

3. Wash the clothes.

4. Mow the lawn.

He tucked the list in his pocket, grabbed a piece of toast and casually strolled outside. He decided that he would start with mowing the lawn first because he knew that it wasn't going to be too hot outside at this time.

As he was mowing the lawn, he felt someone watching him. He discreetly looked around searching for anything out of the ordinary. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something shimmering. He thought that it was someone under a disallusionment charm so he pointed his wand in the general direction and said, "Come out now or I'll hurt you!"

With a curse, Nymphadora Tonks cancelled the charm and strode over to Harry.

"Who are you?" Harry asked.

"I'm Nymphadora Tonks. You can call me Tonks. I'm an auror and I was told by Dumbledore to guard you."

"Why?"

"He's worried that You-Know-Who—"

"Voldemort"

Tonks flinched at the name. "Yes, him, well Dumbledore's worried that he will try to capture you," she answered.

"Aren't there wards to protect me?"

"Yes but I was also told to make sure you didn't go beyond the wards," she said hesitantly.

Harry glared at Tonks and coolly stated, "So he basically wants to imprison me in this hellhole?"

Not expecting an answer, he briskly walked back inside the house to finish his chores.

Tonks disillusioned herself again and thought about the discussion she had with him.

'Wonder why he became angry when I mentioned Dumbledore? Well, Dumbledore wanted me to prevent him from going too far and he did mention that this place was a hellhole.'

She realized that she needed to either talk to him again or see what his relatives were like. She quietly made her way around to the kitchen window and peered inside. At that moment, Harry was trying to dodge Dudley's stick. He nimbly avoided the first few swipes but after a minute, he became tired and felt the bruises forming on his body. Tonks gasped at the brutality of the attack and decided that she was going to inform Dumbledore about this at the next order meeting.

Harry shakily stood up and glared at Dudley.

"Why did you attack me?"

"Cause I saw you talking to someone. Since you're a freak, you can't talk to other people."

Harry sighed, recognizing that there was no point in talking to him and continued to do his chores.

That night, Harry slept fitfully again and woke up biting his tongue to prevent himself from yelling out. As he glanced over at the alarm clock, he saw an old man sitting at his chair. He quickly pointed his wand at the intruder and hissed in a low voice, "Who the hell are you?"

The stranger looked up meeting his gaze.

"My name is Nicholas Flamel."

It took a second for him to process the information but when it registered in his mind, he looked shocked and a bit suspicious.

"I thought you died when the Philosopher's Stone was destroyed," He said.

"The stone that you saved was actually a fake."

Harry looked at him in surprise. After a couple of seconds, Nicholas said, "Since you're already awake, would you like to have breakfast with me?"

Harry nodded and with a couple of wand movements, Nicholas conjured a table full of food. They ate in silence. After they finished, Harry asked, "How long have you been in my room and why are you here?"

"I have been here for most of the day observing you and as to why I am here speaking to you now, Perenelle and I would like you to become our apprentice."

Harry stared at him in disbelief. The only word that came out of his mouth was, "Why?"

Nicholas chuckled and said, "You are smart, very powerful, a bit cunning and you have a pure heart despite the hardships you went through."

Nicholas saw that Harry didn't believe him. 'If he decides to learn from us, we'll have to help him to become confident and proud of his accomplishments,' he thought.

Meanwhile, Harry thought, 'I can't believe that he wants me to learn from both of them. This is the opportunity I've been looking for. With their knowledge I can become strong and protect myself and the people I love.'

"So, do you wish to become our apprentice?"

Harry grinned and confidently said, "Yes."

Harry quickly wrote a note for the headmaster and his relatives.

Dear Dursleys and Professor Dumbledore:

I have been offered an apprenticeship which means that I will be going away for the rest of the summer. Please don't attempt to find me because I will be living in a protected home. I will be returning to Hogwarts on September 1.

HP

After Harry finished packing his trunk, Harry and Nicholas was whisked away to Flamel Mansion via a Portkey.