Chapter 1

It had been almost ten years since Harry Potter was dropped off at the Dursley's doorstep. Since then, Harry was put to the cupboard under the stairs for the rest of his life. And ever since then, Harry's life was filled with nothing but misery.

This led him to think of ways to somehow escape them. He kept expecting someone to show up magically and take him away. Anything would do if it meant that he would be away from the Dursleys.

Unfortunately, weirdness came with his wishes. The day he was removed from the Dursley's home was a day stranger than his cousin's birthday. That in itself, was unbelievable especially since Dudley's birthday was the day he originally thought he had gone crazy.

Harry remembered stepping out of his cupboard when his cousin pushed him back in almost immediately. Dudley laughed at him and then he waddled to the kitchen, leaving Harry stuck at the cupboard. His Aunt found him minutes later but she only came to call him and told him to get his ungrateful behind to the kitchen to cook breakfast. Harry was quick to make his way to the kitchen without much of a fuss. He was wise enough not to argue with his aunt. He greeted his uncle with a good morning but Uncle Vernon just shouted at him, telling him to comb his hair, which was his way of a morning greeting.

Harry's eyes strayed to the pile of gifts that belonged to Dudley. He knew it contained every single thing he asked his parents for since Christmas. Harry knew he shouldn't feel jealous and he wasn't. He was fine with not having new things. There were people who have had it worse than him and a new bike or video camera wouldn't change anything. He was still the Dursley's slave.

It wasn't after a few minutes later that Aunt Petunia and Dudley returned to the kitchen. She was covering her son's eyes with her hands as she guided him towards the table.

"Well? Isn't it wonderful sweetums?"She said after removing her hands.

"How many are there?" Dudley asked.

"Thirty-six!" answered his father cheerfully, "Counted them myself."

Dudley's face fell. "Thirty-six?"

"You forgot to count your Aunt Marge's present. It's under the big one from mummy and daddy." Petunia said.

"Alright. Thirty-seven." Dudley grumbled. Harry saw a tantrum coming on so he began wolfing down his breakfast in case Dudley turned the table over. Petunia must have seen it coming too because she said quickly. "And we'll buy you two new presents. How's that popkin?"

"So I'll have thirty….thirty….." Dudley said slowly. He actually looked like he was in pain.

"Thirty-nine, sweetums."Petunia said sweetly.

"Oh…"Dudley said and grabbed a nearby parcel.

Harry sighed in relief when he realized that Dudley was calm for now. He downed his glass of water in one gulp and proceeded to wash the dishes. Then he went outside to do some weeding, as his aunt had told him to do countless of times before. It was almost his morning routine.

He positioned himself in front of some flowerbeds and started searching for weeds. While he was picking out some, his thoughts drifted off to his life so far.

He was almost eleven years old. That meant that it was almost ten years since he was dropped off on his Aunt and Uncle's doorstep. He asked his relatives about the reason why his parents weren't there and they bluntly said that they were dead and they were never going to come back for him. That he should just accept his fate and get on with his chores.

They said that they died in a car crash but Harry did not believe them. How did a blinding green light and a malicious fit of laughter fit in to a car crash?

Harry shrugged and pulled out the last of the weeds. At least his Aunt and Uncle were sending him off to a boarding school in secondary school. The only problem was his allowance. He doubted the Dursleys would provide him with anything. He was sure that they would expect him to get a job.

"I think I can find a job..."

Harry looked up from the flowerbed and he saw a sudden distortion from the space near the tree. For a minute, Harry thought that someone had been there. But then, he reminded himself, that it might just be him getting dizzy from the smell of pesticides and pollen.

He thought nothing of it but then he kept hearing voices behind him and a few leaves rustling. He swore he heard the words 'savior' and 'boy' although he didn't know what it meant. He had, however, heard news of child molesters and kidnappers on tv whenever his uncle dozed off on the couch but he was sure that none would be around at this time of the year. Especially not on Privet Drive.

Harry turned around and for a brief moment, he saw a huge shape behind a tree before it vanished into thin air. It was at this point that he stopped and went back inside to do his indoor chores, too shaken up about what happened outside.

"Boy! Get the ruddy mail!" UncleVernon barked over breakfast. Harry left his place in the corner of the kitchen and went to the door. He picked up the stack of letters on the floor and cycled through them. He knew nothing in there would be of interest to him but it was just his curiousity that kept him shuffling the letters in his hands.

He eventually found his way to the very last one and his heart stopped when he saw whom it was addressed to.

Mr. H. Potter

The Cupboard Under the Stairs

4 Privet Drive

Little Whinging

Surrey

Harry's heart seemed to have started to work again but it was beating quickly and was hammering inside his chest, it almost felt like it would burst out at any given minute.

He looked around if anyone was looking at him, which was unlikely, since everyone else in the house were in the kitchen. He drew a shaky breath and turned his attention back to the letter in his hands. With shaking hands, he flipped it over and saw a red stamp with a letter 'H' on it with a lion, a snake, a badger, and an eagle.

Harry was beginning to panic now. He had no friends at school. He didn't have relatives. He wasn't involved in any clubs that might send him oficial looking letters like this. And this certainly wasn't from the library because, even if they did send letters like this, he never did anything to them. He never borrowed a book from them, let alone read one.

"Hurry up with the mail boy!" Uncle Vernon barked from the kitchen.

It startled Harry out of his thoughts and he quickly arranged the Dursleys' letters in one hand and he held the letter adressed to him with the other. He made a stop on his cupboard and slipped the letter under the cot that he slept in, then proceeded to the kitchen.

"About time when you arrive!" Vernon told him when he placed the letters on the table. He didn't say anything to him and retreated to the sink where a mountainous pile of dishes waited for him. After doing the dishes, he did his chores and a few additional ones from his aunt every now and then while Dudley kept throwing small stones at him.

Harry didn't pay much attention to his mounting exhaustion as he only had the thought of his letter occupying his mind.

After nightfall, when he was finally allowed to go inside, he immediately went inside his cupboard, not even bothering to eat dinner which consisted of a few slices of bread and cheese.

He groped under the bed for his letter and once he found it, he opened it and read,

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc.,Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards')

Dear Mr. Potter

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

Harry sat there, shocked at the letter's contents. What is this? Is this the Dursley's idea of a prank? If it was, then it was not funny at all.

Witchcraft.

Wizardy.

Wizards...

He's a...

He felt dizzy as he reread the letter again and again. After he felt like he had had enough of the piece of parchment, he peeked inside the other contents inside the envelope. He found the list about the requirements and he was surprised at the length of the parchment paper used.

Harry made up his mind that this was all just a joke when he saw the words, 'wand', broomstick' and 'spellbooks' on the list. This was all so stupid...

He was about to throw the letter into a trash bin when a last piece of parchment fell out of the envelope. He picked it up and read it.

Dear Mr. Potter,

We understand your predicament and we, the Hogwarts staff, will help you with all your educational needs as well as your expenses, understanding that you are an orphan.

We treat children like you with this gift. We will purchase all of your belongings with the SCHOOL'S FUND and all we ask of you is to be serious in your studies.

A teacher will come by and fetch you this coming weekend. Please be prepared by nine o'clock in the morning.

Sincerely,

Albus Dumbledore

Headmaster

Harry stared at the letter.

They were prepared to pay for his education and buy his requirements...? And what's more, they were having somebody to come and meet him this weekend. That sounded suspicious.

With a shrug, Harry tossed the letter on his makeshift shelf over his head and turned over to sleep.

James Potter smiled as his beautiful red headed wife came to join him at the table. He sipped his coffee quietly as he watched her flip through the pages of her notebook.

Lily looked up from the notebook and noticed James' stare. She smiled at him and continued to flip through her notebook.

"Lily, relax. We've still got a month till the term starts. We'll be starting the lessons with reviews, anyway." James said to his wife.

Lily didn't look up at him when she answered. "I know. But it can't hurt to be prepared right?"

James didn't reply and instead, kept sipping on his coffee mug. They were teachers at Hogwarts. Lily was a Charms teacher for the first to third years while Flitwick taught the higher years. He was a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher... partly. He was mostly just a subsitute to the DADA teachers but he still lived at the castle with his wife during the school year. McGonagall, being a close friend of theirs, offered them their position at Hogwarts, to keep their mind off of... Harry.

James rubbed his face with his palms and sighed. Thinking about his son was always so painful.

Lily looked up when she heard him sigh. "Something wrong, sweetheart?"

"Hm?" James said. "It's nothing. Just..."

The rest of his sentence faded away when he saw Lily staring straight into his eyes. She always made him felt like he was being x-rayed whenever she looked like that. Yep, he knew what an x-ray was. Lily taught him.

James tried looking away from her beautiful emeral orbs and stared at the floor. Lily got up from her seat and went towards him. She placed her arms around his neck from behind his chair and asked again, "What is it?"

James sighed again and tried not to look into her eyes. "It's... I'm thinking about... about... him."

Lily's eyes widened and her grip on James's shoulders loosened.

"I'm sorry..." James said as he stroked his wife's hands. Unshed tears glistened in her eyes as she stared at the back of his head. If it was painful for James to remember their only child, then it was torture for Lily.

She blamed herself everyday and for a year after that Halloween night, she cried almost every night for their sweet little boy, while clutching his old clothes that still smelled like him. It tore his heart when he saw her in that state.

He tried convincing her to try and have another but she refused. Even up to this day, she still grieved for Harry.

And yet, James couldn't stop himself from saying, "It's been ten years... he would have been eleven by the end of the month..."

The tears that Lily held back, streamed down her cheeks as she buried her face into her husband's neck and sobbed. James stroked her hair.

"He would've been old enough to go to Hogwarts..." James said. He hated himself for doing so, as he was only adding more pain to his wife's suffering.

Lily clutched him tightly as she cried onto him. James murmured soft words to her as he stroked her hair again and again.

"It's... it's not fair..." she sobbed.

"I know... I know..." James murmured.

"He... he was-he was too y-young... it's not f-fair..."

"I know..." James repeated and he hugged Lily tightly. "I'm sorry for bringing this up..."

Lily sniffled and buried her head in his shoulders.

"I'm so sorry..."

James looked up. I'm so sorry Harry... I failed you..

He kissed the top of his wife's head and stroked her hair but this time, he couldn't stop the tear that escaped from his eye...