A/N - I do not own Harry Potter or any of it's characters. I only play in the universe. Any ideas that other authors that recognize some of their ideas, I apologize, I have read so many stories that I can't remember where I get some of them. Send me a PM and I will try to give you the credit that you deserve. Also, constructive criticism is welcome, flames are not. If you don't like the story, then don't read it.

A/n 2 - this is my first fic, so any help on improving future fics will be greatly appreciated.

Chapter 1

5 year old Harry James Potter, older twin brother to the Boy-Who-Lived, Christopher Charlus Potter, sat in his room in Potter Manner, waiting until he was sure that no one was still up in the house. He was doing this for one simple reason, he didn't get any dinner. His parents had forgotten him... again. Not that it mattered much, his parents had done it before and would do it again. The only problem was that if he got caught sneaking around at night he would be in trouble, his father, and he used that term loosely, would force him back to his room and lock him in until morning, if he didn't forget.

Harry's life hadn't been like this the first 15 months or so, it was only after Halloween 1981 that his life started going down hill. That was the night that his brother was chosen as the great "Boy-Who-Lived". Harry knew different. He may not look it, but Harry was amazingly smart. He had perfect recall and could remember everything in his short life. This was because Harry's magic was different than almost everyone else. It affected him physically. He learned at a very young age that he could manipulate his magic to enhance his body. It wasn't that his magic was different per say, it was just that he learned to use it in a different way. Even without his magic, Harry was a brilliant child. The way that he learned to use his magic allowed him to use wandless magic as easily as the typical magic user uses a wand.

It was for this reason that Harry knew that his brother wasn't the "Boy-Who-Lived". He was. He remembered that night like it was yesterday.

Flashback

A man with red eyes walked into his and his brother's room and pointed a wand at his brother. Little Harry had a bad feeling as the stranger said something odd and a green light came out of the wand and raced towards his little brother. Harry reacted instinctively and reached out to the green light and made it change direction, back to the stranger with red eyes. He watched as the man's eyes widened and he screamed before he blew up and all that was left, which looked like a ghost, left soon after. He was really tired and barely noticed an odd cut on his brother's cheek that looked like a sideways V, from a piece of the crib hitting him, he didn't even notice the stinging pain on his own forehead as he slipped off to sleep wondering where his parents were and where the rat man was that was supposed to be watching them.

End Flashback

That was the night that everything changed in Harry's life. He remembered as he woke up the next morning and his parent were fussing over his brother and didn't even notice him until he started to make noise. From there, things got worse until finally they stopped paying attention to him at all and doted on Chris. Harry knew that they hadn't stopped loving him anymore, they just sort of... forgot about him, in favor for his brother.

Harry got really good at manipulating his magic at that point and taught himself to read so he could learn new things in the family library. He tried to impress his parents with the things he learned but they didn't seem to care. All they cared about was Chris. He would do magic and try to get their attention and they always thought that it was his brother doing it, he didn't even try to correct his parents as he got older, he knew they would just tell him to go away and stop bothering his brother.

That was another thing that set him apart from his brother, because he could control his magic better than most, he never had incidents of accidental magic. He was positive that his parents thought he was a squib or barely above one.

Finally Harry snapped out of his thoughts and felt that it was safe to get something to eat. He sneaked out of his room and used magic to silence himself. He made it to the landing on the second story before he heard voices. He was ready to dash back to his room when he stopped and heard his parents and the old man, Dumdlefore or something, he didn't know because the man never really talked to him or introduced himself. The few times he did speak with Harry, the man just asked where his parents or twin were. Harry and Chris were easy to tell apart, Chris had dark red hair, like their mother, and hazel eyes, whereas Harry had jet black hair and the greenest eyes anyone had seen, with flecks of gold in them.

Curious as to what the man was doing here so late, he got closer and heard that they were talking about him and his brother.

He heard his father say, "But professor, will it really do any good? I mean he hasn't done any magic at all. No accidental magic since he was born."

The professor said, "Yes James I believe it will. He is magical, I can say that for sure. His name is down at Hogwarts, it just maybe that he has very little of it. Anything that can help young Christopher will be good in the long run. You know the prophesy, only Christopher can defeat Voldemort. All three of us know that he isn't gone, he will return and we must be ready for him. That means the chosen one must ready as well. It is for the greater good that this must be done."

Lily finally said something, "Are we even sure this will work? I mean, like James said, Harry hasn't shown many signs of magic. Even if he does have magic, what if it is so small that it doesn't do any good? I agree that the sacrifice must be made for both of them to live through this, but what if it isn't enough?"

The professor sighed, "I agree that the possibility is there but what else is there for us to do? The ritual can only be done with those that have a close family bond and you two are his parents and among the best fighters the light side has. For the greater good young Harry must have his magic, however small, transferred to his brother to help him defeat Lord Voldemort. This could be the 'power he knows not' portion of the prophesy."

James sighed in resignation, "Okay, we will bring them to the castle towards the end of the week. Afterwards, we will probably have to place Harry in an orphanage so that he doesn't have to grow up being the squib brother to the Boy-Who-Lived. It would just fill him with jealousy."

"No!" Lily said angrily. "We are already taking his magic away, we can't send him away as well. That is being to cruel. He is our child and he will stay with us."

"But Lils, I already disinherited him so that Chris would be Lord Potter if something were to happen to us. That is the same as disowning him. I even made it so that it couldn't be reversed so that if I were captured the Death Eaters couldn't use me to change it and kidnap Harry and use him to get the Potter fortune to use against us. After the ritual I will go down to Gringotts and empty his trust vault, explaining that we found out he is a squib." James said.

Lily shook her head, "It doesn't matter, the least we can do is keep him with us. We can send him to a muggle school and he could do something in that world. Besides, people will understand the disinheritance and we can explain away him being a squib because he has never done any accidental magic."

Harry had heard enough. They were going to take away his magic and were going to be merciful enough not to send him away, but make him live with magic all around him as a reminder of what he had lost. As if that would get them to pay more attention to him. He let a few tears fall as he hastily made his way back to his room. As he packed what few belongings he had, he thought about what he had to do. He knew he couldn't stay there and while he had no where to go, he knew he had to get away. He knew he didn't have any money... but Chris did. He finished throwing his stuff in a bag, he packed a few books on magic and after a few seconds of thought, he made his way to the library and quickly skimmed through a few books on Goblin, trying to understand a little about their customs. He quickly understood that they just wanted respect and to be treated like equals. He had watched other witches and wizards treat them, so he knew what NOT to do, he read a bit more and quickly understood how to greet them. After that he made his way to Chris' room and silently opened the door and found his twin snoring away the night. He made his way over to his brother's closet and grabbed the money sack he knew was there. He knew his brother wouldn't miss it, he would think he just misplaced it and get more from their parents. Once back in his room, he quickly gathered his few belongings and looked around his room to make sure he had everything.

"Goodbye" He silently said, while thinking of his Uncle Padfoot and Uncle Moony. They had been nice to him for a while but eventually they too fell into the routine of only paying attention to Chris and overlooking himself. Uncle Moony still remembered him on his birthdays though, but because he didn't have a lot of money he always bought Chris a present and not Harry. This didn't bother Harry at all, he understood that he didn't want grief with his only friends and he more than made it up to Harry by simply remembering it was his birthday too and spending a little time with him.

Still he would miss them, if only for the fact that they lasted to longest. With that he turned and disappeared without a sound; the only disturbance was the space around him warped slightly. He had learned the easy way to Apparate a few months before, though he didn't really think it was Apparating. It didn't feel like that which he read about. He called it "shifting", because it felt like the ground shifted from one spot to another. He just wanted to be somewhere else and his magic did the work.

He reappeared in Diagon Alley and made his way up to the white building, it was fairly late and so there weren't many people in the alley. Once at the entrance to the bank, he bowed to the Goblin guards. They bowed back at him with surprised expressions. Once inside, he made his way to a teller and waited until recognized.

Finally the Goblin grunted and motioned him forward, "State your business!"

Harry bowed and looked the goblin straight in the eye and said, "I wish to speak with someone concerning my family's vaults." and after thinking for a moment, added, " Also I would like an inheritance test done."

The goblin was surprised at the young boy's manners. He nodded and closed his window and motioned for Harry to follow.

As they walked he explained, "No one is here at this time for either of those departments, but you have shown respect and honor that not many wizards do, so the Bank manager may decide to take care of your requests if he chooses to. If not, you will have to come back in the morning."

Harry nodded his understanding and they walked on in silence. Upon coming to a door the Goblin knocked and they heard a voice within beckon them in.

When he steeped inside the room, Harry saw another goblin sitting behind a desk signing various forms.

He looked up and said, "Teller Fistslam, what is the problem?"

Fistslam bowed and replied, "Master Ragnok, this human child wishes to speak to someone about his family vaults and wishes an inheritance test to be done on him."

Ragnok looked at Harry with critical eyes and grunted, "Why have you brought him to me? There isn't anyone in those departments at this time."

Fistslam replied, "This is true, however he has shown respect and honor and I thought you would want to talk to him first, before I sent him away."

Ragnok peered at Harry again and grunted at him, then motioned for Harry to take a seat.

Before doing so, Harry turned to Fistslam, bowed and said, "Thank you Teller Fistslam, may your fortune increase and your enemies decrease."

Fistslam smiled and bowed back before exiting the chamber. Harry turned to Ragnok and walked over to the seat indicated.

Ragnok started, "For what reason have you come to Gringotts?"

From there Harry launched into an explanation as to why he was there and what he had discovered. Ragnok was appalled at what he learned and agreed to Harry's plans. They decided they would take all the money out of Harry's trust vault and transfer it to another vault under an alias. This was allowed because, until Lord Potter removed Harry's name from the list of those who had access to the vault, Harry could do whatever he wanted with its contents.

They talked for a while longer until Ragnok had another goblin bring in a blood red quill and a piece of parchment. He instructed Harry to write his name on the parchment and Harry did so. About 30 seconds passed before lines started appearing from Harry's name. As the names were written, Harry just had one thing going through his mind, Merlin! After about a minute it stopped and some of the names lit up in gold, indicating he had access to those vaults.

Ragnok informed Harry of how to get access to these vaults.

Harry spoke, while he injected magic into his voice "I hereby claim the inheritance rights to Vaults 1, 3, 6, 7, 118, 239 and 305. These vaults have yet to be claimed by my fore bearers and may now pass to me."

With that, a blinding flash of light surrounded Harry and when it faded he had a silver ring, that seemed to flow like water, on his ring finger on his right hand. On it, was a piece of pure white crystal that had a slight glow to it, with a shield, staff and a dragon carved, in gold, into it. The ring flickered to show a total of 7 different rings, all with different designs on them and made of different metals.

Ragnok said, "Never has anyone had access to so many ancient vaults. Vault 1 belonged to Myrddin Emrys, and you are his heir by magic. Vault 3 belonged to Godric Gryffindor, you have rights to that vault by blood and magic, the family head is passed down to oldest son, no matter what status they are. Your father never claimed the headship for this house at Dumbledore's insistence. So he does not have the right to disinherit you from this. Vault 6 belonged to Salazar Slytherin, you have rights to that vault by right of conquest and heir by magic. The right of conquest is directly related to his blood heirs' defeat on Halloween, 1981. Vault 7 belonged to Ignotus Peverell, that family married into the Potter family 400 years ago, again your father does not know this, none of your family does, they never thought to have a family history check. They simply got by, by being the Potters and Lord Gryffindor."

He paused and frowned slightly at his papers, then said, "Vault 118 belonged to an ancient magical line, the name was never given, they are just known as the 'Shadow Walkers'. They disappeared centuries ago, they moved out of Britain, to China, I believe. They were an ancient order, but chose to leave for a different part of the world. Vault 239 belonged to a dragon tamer that discovered the Opal eye, Artamius Dracumis. All his descendants were squibs until your mother. She is the first witch born of his descendants in almost 500 years. Because the family is patriarchal, head of house is passed to you.

"And finally Vault 305 belonged to Jackson Daniels, a fairly well off wizard of little repute, but his family was very wealthy, he just never touched the vault. He died during the muggles' first World War. This family split from the Potters around the time of your father's great grand Uncle's birth. The stipulation being that Lord Potter may not have the title of Lord Daniels. The initial Daniels' fortune was half of the Potter fortune when the families split."

Harry was dazed. How had his parents not known that they were related to these people? He could understand Merlin, Gryffindor and Slytherin but the the other 4? How did his grandfather keep it from James that he was related to Gryffindor and Peverell? It was mind-boggling!

He cleared his throat and said, "Umm well... I don't really know what to say? I guess we can start with figuring out how much I have. Then I was wondering if the goblin nation would help me find a way out of Britain and keep it from the Potters and the old man. I really need to remember his name. Anyway, I would pay any fees that the help might require, I know I have that much, at least, in my trust account."

Ragnok laughed, "Mr. Potter -"

Harry interrupted, "Sorry sir, but seeing as how my family disowned me, just call me Harry. It's easier that way. Until I officially file my name as the lord of the Daniels' family, I am Harry No Name."

Ragnok smiled, "That is fine Harry, now, what you need to understand is that you have more money than your former family has ever had. The rumors that Myrdin Emrys and the founders vaults are just housing old, worthless relics and no gold was perpetuated by us. We became tired of always having witches and wizards claiming that they were related somehow, though most wizards and witches are, inheritance of these families is strictly through magic. In truth, they have fairly large fortunes in them. I will get you a ledger before you go but suffice to say, you are very wealthy, in fact, you are one of the wealthiest wizards in the world with access to these vaults. I believe that the Daniels' family vault is your poorest vault and it has around G1,000,000. The Potter family had around the same before your brother became famous. Now they have around twice that. Trust me when I say that you will be able to afford any help you may need."

He smirked, "Even the Malfoy family doesn't have as much as your former family, even before your brother's fame. Though, the other vaults don't have much more than that, your richest vault, the Emrys vault, has G6,000,000 in it, and that is just because it is the oldest and since he was a great friend to the Goblins, we had his vault invested in heavily over the centuries. Our last gift to the one who helped us the most in our history. Though, there are limitations on that account. You can only withdraw a certain amount within a year because it is a large portion of the British wizarding economy. But still, the amount that you can withdraw is substantial. I believe it is somewhere around G200,000 a year and considering a moderately sized manor costs around G12,000, the amount you have access to is more than you will ever use. Unless, of course, you are unwise with your money."

Harry just nodded, still in a daze.

Ragnok chuckled and said, "Now, from what I remember from the Shadow Walkers account, you have at least 1 small dwelling place in all the major countries around the world. That account is much more land rich, rather than money rich. So where would you like to go?"

Harry sighed, this was the part that he was dreading, he didn't know many places. He didn't really think that far ahead. He just knew he needed to get out, he thought he would have time to think after he got what was left in his trust vault. He still needed to get some things in the alley, that should give him enough time. He didn't need to rush, he estimated that he wouldn't be found missing until at least mid-afternoon to late evening the following day.

He said, "Can I think about it? I need to figure out a way to not draw attention to that fact that I am a child and I also need a way to communicate with other people in a different country. I was hoping Flourish & Blotts would have something."

Ragnok smiled, "Well we can help you with that as well. We can give you a charmed watch that would give you a glamour to make you look much older and anyway you want. We can incorporate a translation spell into the watch as well. You would able to speak any language you want with the exception of languages for magical species. The spells involved muffle the sound and distort the words."

Harry sighed in relief. He finally had a way out and people that would help him do it.

He smiled at the King of the Goblin Nation and said, "Well then, please deduct the cost of my visit from the Daniels' vault, make that my primary vault when you set me up with that watch. While that is taking place, could we go down to visit my vaults? Oh and we might as well just leave my trust vault alone, but take one fourth of it for the goblins. My former parents will never know. They will just think that I had less because Chris is the Boy-Who-Lived and he deserved more."

Ragnok smirked, "Thank you Harry, on the behalf of the Goblin Nation for your generous gift. As a thank you, you will be recognized as a friend to the Goblin Nation for your respect and honor to the goblins, when life has given you no reason to. Now I shall start the paperwork that you will need to travel. I will need a new name for your identification papers so that you may not be tracked. While you are down in the vaults your watch will be made and I will get you a list of places you can go. Also, I warn you now, when it is time for you to start Hogwarts, you need to go as part of your requirements to maintain recognition as heir to Gryffindor and Slytherin and they will have your real name on their list so this name is only temporary."

Harry smiled, "Thank you for this great honor. You can just use the name, Alexander Shadow. And I understand that I will need to come back. I always knew I would. I just don't need to be here now."

Ragnok nodded and wrote down the name, "Interesting name you chose..."

Harry shrugged, "I just figured, since I lived in the shadows for all my life, I might as well embrace them. As for the first name, well it just sounds cool! And it goes with Shadow." he finished laughing.

The chief goblin laughed with the 5 year old, who was much more mature than his true age, yet still was a child at heart, "Very well. I shall see to the paperwork and watch, while you go down to your vaults. Remember anything down there is yours. And I will also set you up with a special money pouch that transforms into a wallet around muggles. It connects directly to your primary account."

Harry thanked Ragnok for all his help and made his way don to his vaults with a new goblin by the name of Griphook.

Once down in his vaults, he didn't take any money. He simply looked for books that were interesting and anything else he thought he should take. He ended up taking a black suit of Basilisk armor from the Shadow Walkers vault along with some weapons he thought looked cool; including a short sword and two daggers. He also took some books from each of the vaults. He realized that he couldn't do any magic until he got a wand, to fool others into believing he needed one, but that didn't matter to him. He just wanted to read about them and figured he could practice the magic later in private. He also picked up a pensieve and a few books from the Emrys vault and a book on Invisibility in the Peverell vault. He stored all of it in a trunk he found in the Gryffindor vault, which he shrunk to fit in his pocket.

After he was done he went back to Ragnok's office. He glanced at the list of properties, then told the chief Goblin where to send him and took the prepared portkey, his papers and the watch.

He also said, "Could you invest my money from all but the Daniels' vault, with high risk, high gain and give the investor a 5% increase on what he gets out of it?"

Ragnok was shocked, no one had ever given a goblin that much control of their money and never offered that much in return, "We could not possibly take that much, their starting pay is 2% of the profits, we will take no more than 4%. Even if you are a smart child, you are still a child and we will not take advantage of that, there is no honor in that."

Harry agreed, then he said goodbye and disappeared in a flash of color. Ragnok rubbed his hands together in anticipation for when the news broke that Harry Potter disappeared. He knew that Britain wouldn't see him again until his first year at Hogwarts. He made sure that as long as he wore his watch, he would be safe. He had the enchanters add as many protection spells as they could. He was a friend of the Goblin nation, he was afforded that sort of protection. He also signed the emancipation papers signifying that the Goblin Nation recognized it.

Harry landed in a flash of color in the middle of what looked like a meeting room, surrounded by people in black robes. His first thoughts were, "Uh Oh..."

A/N - I seem to have confused a few people, this is the first part of the story, I will clarify in the second "book".