Breath of the Inferno V3 Ch1 (Patreon)

Welp… this happened.

I can’t believe I actually came back to this. Why did I come back to this?

ThanosBackToMe.mp4

This is V3 of this story. I originally rewrote a LOT of the original chapter 1, and ended up with a V2 that was like 10k longer than the original chapter 1. I can post that for patrons if there’s interest, but it probably won’t see the light of day anywhere else since it won’t be continued.

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The still silence of the Yukon was broken when four cracks rang through the air. The first two were relatively silent, with age and experience with the spell allowing near perfect transitions. The other two were younger, and much less practiced with the technique. They made loud cracks, which would have spooked all of the nearby wildlife… had there been any.

In the middle of what appeared to be a forest, that was very unusual. Sirius Black looked around in confusion, “Where the devil are we?” he asked his companions; Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, and his niece, Auror graduate Nymphadora Tonks.

“This is creepy.” Tonks spun around slowly, “Where are all of the animals? I can’t hear anything!”

“Are you sure this is the right place Albus?” Minerva said, casting her gaze around. Tonks’ statement wasn’t entirely accurate; she could certainly hear the babbling of a nearby waterfall, and even the breeze lightly shaking the leaves around them. But she was right. There was nothing living near them.

“I am as sure as I reasonably can be.” Albus replied, just as wary as his companions. He pulled out a small contraption and gazed at it, “He’s certainly near. Provided this is working, of course.”

Minerva cast a spell, creating a glowing white orb in front of her. It was a small model of the earth, with a single blinking red dot on its surface. “We’re in the Yukon?” She sounded incredulous.

“Halfway around the world.” Sirius chewed on his tongue for a moment, “Merlin, how the hell did he end up here? Harry, what happened to you?”

“No wonder I feel so tired…” Tonks breathed out, “Forget cross-continental, I’ve never even done a cross-country Apparition before!”

“Are you good to continue, Ms. Tonks?” Albus peered at her.

“You’re not getting rid of me that easy.” Tonks replied, before she slipped a potion out of her satchel. She took a quick sip, and steam ripped out of her ears. She shook her head, grimacing at the taste, before stoppering it and placing it back, “Phew, wakes you right up.”

“Excellent.” Albus said, “Let’s move on, shall we? Be prepared for anything. With hope, he was simply adopted, and his new family happened to live in an area that was out of the way.”

“Sure.” Sirius snarked as they all drew their wands, “I’ve also got a bridge to sell you, Albus.”

“I hate to say it, but Sirius is right.” Minerva grimaced, “There’s nothing for dozens of kilometers around here.” She viewed her globe spell closely, “The nearest city – even a minor one – is more than fifty kilometers from our location. We’re in the wilds here.”

They crossed through trees and were forced to leap a river, before coming to a stop at a sheer cliff. It wasn't a large one, but they stopped because they saw the beacon they had been led to.

It was a simple mottled brown post owl, with an envelope tied securely to her talons. But what was more important was what they did not see. Nowhere in sight was the boy they had been desperately searching for. The owl was intelligent, and recognized two of her favorite humans below. She flew down and landed on Minerva’s arm with a mournful bark.

“Oh, what is wrong, Vesper? Can you not find him?” Minerva seemed lost. They had been certain that the spell Albus had crafted using the Goblet of Fire would have located the boy. Vesper barked indignantly and puffed her feathers. She stood on one leg and flared her wings while the other pointed somewhere around a dozen meters ahead of them. Minerva noticed it then. It was a rocky outcropping, surrounding a rather huge black hole. It was a cave. A very large cave.

“Oh, wonderful!” Tonks snarked as Albus took the letter from Vesper, “Deep, dark cave that a very intelligent post owl won’t go into. Right, haven’t seen this movie before.”

It was not often that a post owl as proud as Vesper refused to deliver their packages personally. For her to refuse to go near that cave meant something had well and truly frightened her. Albus took out a piece of string and handed it to her, “Go and rest Vesper. You’ve done a fine job.” The owl glowed blue momentarily before vanishing. Albus turned to his companions, “Be very much on your guard. It’s not a common occurrence-”

“For an owl like Vesper to refuse to deliver to a target very close to her. I know. We shall be vigilant.” Minerva replied evenly, before eyeing the two youngsters with them. Sirius and Tonks nodded, before the four leapt/glided to the entrance of the cave in a single bound. They looked at the hole in slight bewilderment. “These rocks look…melted. As though they were once a whole piece but were broken, and melted back into place.” She stated, with Albus nodding in agreement.

“Very peculiar.” He said before striding forward confidently. They all descended into the dark, igniting their wands with powerful light spells. This revealed what appeared to be a broken corridor. Here and there were torch armatures still hanging to the bits of wall that weren't broken. Due to those armatures, it immediately became clear that this had once been an entrance. But to what? The floor itself dipped, crumbled and uneven. Something very large must have passed through here, carving and pushing the very earth itself out of the way. Every couple meters, they saw a hardened… lump of stone near melted bits of wall. Every way their illumination hit, they saw scorch marks and melted rock.

Not one of them realized they were being watched. A young, transparent man seemingly melted out of thin air, floating behind them. He tilted his head, ‘Interesting. I’ve never had other humans come here.’ He smirked, before he melted back into invisibility and raced ahead of them deeper into the cave.

As the quartet moved forward, they grew more and more worried, “I’m not the only one seeing gold light reflecting back at us, right?” Sirius muttered to his companions.

“No. You’re not.” Albus said heavily.

“Albus, this can’t possibly be a Goblin Hoard can it?” Minerva asked of her companion, her heart now pounding in her chest.

Tonks gasped, “That’s impossible! We would have been slaughtered as soon as we arrived!” She paused, “Well, they would have tried, at least.” She amended, knowing that at least two of the people she was with were exceedingly powerful.

“And yet…” Albus said lightly, even as the four started to flex their magic to prepare for a fight, “More and more, I have been thinking the same thing. There were a few walls relatively unmarred by whatever passed through here. On them I saw broken rune clusters written in Gobbledegook.”

The other three inhaled sharply at the possible confirmation, “Oh Merlin, what the hell could have forced those damn imps out?!” Tonks asked, “Those little bastards would never abandon a Hoard.” More than once in history, wars had been started for a single piece of unreturned Goblin crafts. They zealously guarded their creations, not even considering inheritancea valid reason for allowing a human to keep something they created.

But their Hoards? Their Hoards were something on a whole other level. Throughout the millennia that humanity had been alive, the number of humans who were allowed to see the inside of one and live could probably be listed by name and date. No doubt thousands had met their ends at goblin blades and spears for even passing within the vicinity without permission. The Goblins were incredibly proud of their knowledge and command over the earth. Even all the largest muggle gold operations together couldn’t even hold a candle to a single Goblin Hoard. The reason the ore seemed so rare was that most of it was deep, deep underground, in areas that the Goblins had somehow managed to both claim and protect for millennia. These caves – more underground empires – where gold ran like rivers through solid stone were things of legend. Almost every single human who was ever allowed inside of one begged to be allowed back. Not only did the blasted imps hold an almost monopoly on the largest amounts of gold, but they ruthlessly warred for even a slight whisper of a thought of moving away from the metal as the magical world’s currency. They kept the majority for themselves, loving the metal passionately, and kept rates of exchange high.

It was a practice Albus had long abhorred, but there was little he could do about it. Any action to change things would have the greedy little creatures ready for blood, and losing access to the banks would be a disaster. The wizarding world could not easily handle another Goblin Rebellion. Not this soon after the war with Tom.

“I do not know…” Albus replied, “And I hope to not find out.”

As they crossed the threshold of the tunnel into a gigantic cavern, even Albus could not help but stop and gape. Gold. Silver. Copper. Diamonds. Rubies. Sapphires. “Oh my…” He was not a material man by any means, but he doubted that even Nicholas could produce this much wealth, “This…”

“What the fuck…” Sirius looked around with his jaw on the floor. His niece was even worse than him. She was even drooling.

“This is insanity!” Normally so refined, Minerva had devolved to gaping in awe. Everywhere they looked, precious metals and gems were strewn. There were literal mountains of coins. Giant slabs of gold bigger than their bodies lay littered amongst them. Gigantic, pure crystals of diamonds, emeralds, and every other precious gem they could imagine lay beside the ruins of buildings. Several pillars of crystal somehow had remained standing, and others were laying on carts seemingly ready to be moved. “What in Merlin’s name could have caused the Goblins to abandon this place?” Minerva was almost choking. Albus’ mouth was incredibly dry, knowing that the danger level had just skyrocketed.

He didn’t bother answering the question, taking a handkerchief from his pocket, and wiping his sweaty brow, before handing it off to Minerva. It was hot in the cavern. Blisteringly hot even. A quick air conditioning charm on their robes had them at least ready to continue. “Well,” He smacked his lips, trying to moisten them, “We now know why the Goblins have been even more surly and unmanageable for the past decade.” Minerva could only nod in agreement as she handed him a cup of ice-cold water she conjured.

They gathered their wits for a few moments, before Tonks sighed and floated her wand in front of her, “Point Me Harry James Potter.” She didn’t expect anything to come of the simple spell. It had been tried before and nothing came of it previously. This time was different. The floating wand began to spin rapidly in every direction before stopping. Its tip was pointing slightly downward, in front of her and to the right. She stared at her wand in shock.

Albus smiled, “So he is alive, even if he is in this dark place. That is somewhat relieving news, at least.”

“Albus… How can he be here of all places? If the Goblins were chased out and have not been able to reclaim it, how can he be here?”

“How indeed?” Albus murmured, as they began heading in the pointed direction. Tonks’ floating wand continually changed directions, affixed to their target’s location while floating in front of her. As they went down the rock spiral staircase, it adjusted for the new position. They reached ground level and began their climb through the golden mountains. At first there were paths. Roads that were once no-doubt used by the Goblins. The coins were neatly stacked and arrayed. The further in they went, the more this changed. Mountains of coins had fallen and covered the streets until they could no longer see the road. Stacks became mounds and fewer crystal pillars remained standing and whole. The coins clicked and clanged as they were disturbed for the first time in a long while, sliding as large piles of it were disturbed.

Additionally, the sweltering heat seemed to only grow more powerful the further into the mountains they traveled. “Why is it getting hotter?!” Tonks continuously had to bug Sirius to cast air conditioning charms on her with her wand occupied. She was sweating heavily even with it. As they traveled, they occasionally threw starbursts into the air, which hovered above, providing both more illumination and a way to find their way back to the entrance.

The Point Me spell, once sufficiently mastered, could not only give a direction but also a general sense of how close they were to their target. It wasn’t very accurate, being only a very loose sense, but it could at least tell Tonks that they were getting closer. And the closer they got, the hotter it became. They came upon a very large mountain of coins, surrounding what seemed to be a large rock spike. They ignored it, and circled around rather than climbing. But both noticed something strange. The wand was no longer fixed ahead of them. As they walked around, the wand slowly revolved. By the time they made it less than a quarter of the way around the mound, it had become increasingly clear.

“Albus…please tell me he is not somehow buried within this gigantic pile of gold.” Minerva deadpanned. This heat was getting to her. She was tired, hot, and irritated, and now they would likely have to dig in this pile to find out how Harry could possibly be both alive and buried in heavy gold.

“I’m afraid that may be the case, as impossible as it see-“ Albus was cut off by a loud noise, almost like a large amount of air being blown through a pipe. The sound of clicking coins drew their attention and they slowly turned. Part of the mound was sliding downward, revealing black underneath, and what appeared to be a hole. As more and more of the coins clinked and slid down, more and more of the black – and now recognizable as scaly– mass appeared. That wasn’t a hole.

It was a nostril.

Minerva took a step back, all the color drained from her face. Tonks was stock still, her entire body locked up from terror. Sirius grabbed her and slowly started pulling her away as quietly as he could, but every step they took moved more of the gold around.

And then a much louder noise rang out. A cascade of falling gold coins. Their heads snapped to the side, and started to feel faint as dozens of meters away, something was moving around like an absolutely enormous snake. And then their heads snapped back as the mound in front of them moved, displacing hundreds of pounds of gold as it slid forward, closer to them.

They rapidly backpedaled, trying to keep from tripping, before the mound stopped moving. But that didn’t make them feel any better. The makings of a head had been revealed. A very…draconic… head. Minerva whimpered in terror. She was no dragon handler or even a novice on dragons. Neither could she even see all of the massive creature in front of them. But despite that, she knew. She could feel in her bones that the terrifyingly large dragon must have been the largest dragon the world had ever seen. Its head was too large for that not to be the case. The Ukrainian Ironbelly was the largest breed of dragon known. The largest Ironbelly ever measured was said to have been 26 and a half meters in length. The average Ironbelly usually measured from 18 to 20 meters in length. She had been lucky enough to see a herd of them in her youth, and she was very, very sure that this monster would likely have been able to hold a full-grown Ironbelly in its mouth. Maybe even swallow one whole.

“Leave. We have to leave.” Tonks babbled, “Before it-”

A massive eyelid opened, a secondary eyelid sliding sideways, revealing a glowing, emerald-green eye that appeared to have literal fire in its depths. Sirius came very close to pissing himself.

“Wakes…” Tonks keened, her wand clutched in a white-knuckled grip that was trembling like a leaf.

Albus clenched his wand hard as the beast began to stir. The massive mound they now realized was covering the beast shifted. Golden rivers and then waterfalls fell from the beast’s hide as it moved, raising itself slowly while turning to look at the intruders. It sniffed, and what could have been a snarl started pulling at its mouth, revealing razor sharp fangs. It brought its head forward, and Albus clenched, ready to cast his strongest flame freezing charm or turn this mountain of gold into something that could possibly restrain it long enough for him to grab his companions and flee. What happened next almost caused him to drop his wand in shock.

“How…interesting.” The great dragon spoke.

In English. The dragon spoke. The Dragon. Spoke. Its voice sounded like two gigantic cinder blocks grinding together.

As more and more of the gold slid off its hide and scales, Minerva became surer of her earlier assumption. The black dragon in front of them was too massive. It simply should not exist. Not even ancient, extinct breeds of dragon got this large. They had skeletons to prove it. This… this thing before them was an impossibility, and not just because of how big it was.

Albus agreed. In the part of Albus’ mind that wasn’t squeaking in terror, he idly noticed that this dragon in front of them departed in a rather extreme fashion from every other dragon he had ever seen. Unlike the dragons he was more-than-familiar with at this point, it had six limbs rather than the standard four. What made it so different was the fact that its wings were not connected to its arms. The wings were both entirely separate, massiveappendages. Its hind legs were fatter than the front arms and more heavily armored. The front arms were slightly thinner, but the claws were much more dangerous looking. It also had a very long neck (much longer than any breeds he knew of) which joined to its larger and clearly powerful body.

The beast was also covered in dangerous-looking armored spikes. Its head was relatively smooth up until the tip of its skull. There, large black spikes started jutting back, continuing down its spine, and growing progressively smaller towards the tip of its tail. Its scales were massive, and could better be described as armored plates in certain locations. An unearthly green glow shone from beneath its scales.

Finally, it finished lifting itself from its plunder, revealing belly scales tinged with green, unlike the jet black of the rest of its body. Near its chest where its heart had to be, the green glow shone the brightest.

The dragon climbed out from under its gold fully and began circling them. Every footstep it took seemed to cause a small quake, and a new shifting of the mountains of gold under their feet. And yet despite that, it moved sinuously. Carefully. Controlled. A beast this big should have been graceless, and yet it could move in a manner that could almost be called stealthy.

The quartet were forced to watch as the dragon took up position in front of them, its back now to what they knew was the exit. But they could now see it in its full glory as it stood proud. Minerva could only guess, but she figured that it must have been 100 meters in length. At minimum.

Even Albus Dumbledore (widely regarded as the strongest Warlock in the world currently) would not fire first on such a massive dragon. It was bound to be incredibly powerful and extremely resistant to magic.

“So!” The Dragon’s voice now boomed. “Whom do I have the pleasure of receiving in my home?”

Their hearts were beating a staccato in their chests. He swallowed heavily, and then spoke, “Pleasant day, isn’t it my good dragon?” No one ever accused Albus Dumbledore of being sane. A low rumble reached their ears, and they realized that it had chuckled. “I am Albus Dumbledore.”

“M-my name is M-Minerva McGonagall.” Minerva incredulously followed Albus’ lead.

“S-Sirius Black.” The man really hoped that his twelve years of suffering in Azkaban hadn’t led up to getting eaten.

Tonks was still trembling, and barely managed to get her family name out. “T-T-T-T-Tonks. W-W-Wotcher!” She managed a frightened little wave.

“My, my, what nice manners.” She was unaware that dragons could smile, but she was fairly certain the beast was doing its damndest to try, and the feeling of wrongness just intensified, “Certainly better than my last… visitors.” She idly gave a prayer for whatever fool did that, “Well met, Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, Sirius Black, and Tonks. Now…” A heat wave hit them, and the last word was lightly snarled. The glow around the dragon’s scales intensified momentarily before it dimmed. They all had to shakily wipe their sweaty brows with conjured handkerchiefs, “Why are you here?”

‘Well, in for a Knut, in for a Galleon I suppose.’ Albus thought to himself, “We are looking for one of our own. A male.” His grip on his wand tightened as the dragon seemed to jerk in interest, “He went missing years ago and we have been searching ever since.”

“How… interesting.” The dragon repeated that phrase as its head lowered slightly, “And what would this man’s name be, may I ask?”

“Harry James Potter.” Sirius Black was apparently insane. Well, he was among good company, at least.

The rumbling rang again, different this time. Minerva realized with a start that it was laughing. The beast continued for a long moment, before settling physically, “And what is your interest in this… Harry James Potter?”

Albus sucked his teeth for a moment, “All we want is to bring him home. Make sure he’s safe.” He let out a tired sigh. He didn’t drop his guard for a second, but this entire encounter was just ludicrous.

Clearly this was all just a bad dream, and if it was a bad dream there was no harm in going along with this madness. “He lived with his relatives for over half a decade. One day, the house caught fire and exploded, and no trace of him was ever found again.” Minerva said slowly.

“We all thought he was dead.” Tonks said, having gotten her trembling under control with the dragon conversing with them. Boy, would she have a story for the other Aurors if they made it out alive. “Especially when he didn’t show up to Hogwarts four years ago for schooling.”

Sirius was looking at the dragon, and the wheels in his head were spinning over an utterly impossible idea. The sheer strangeness of the intelligent, speaking dragon was throwing him, but the utter impossibility of its existence, the Point Me spell, and its line of questioning was throwing his mind in that direction. Which was even more impossible than the dragon. He cleared his throat, “He was my godson.” The dragon’s gaze snapped to his face, and its eyes narrowed, “I promised his parents I would take care of him if they didn’t make it through the war, but I was unable to do so.” He said bitterly.

“Why…” The dragon’s fury was audible, something which confused three of them but gave Sirius even more hope that his impossible idea was true.

“Well, he was too busy being illegally detained in prison without a trial for crimes he didn’t commit.” Tonks snarked, still utterly jazzed off even a year later after learning what had happened to her uncle. She didn’t expect the dragon to know some of those terms. It was intelligent, but what did a dragon know of legality and prison?

“I only escaped and got my name cleared last year.” Sirius said, grief and rage still lined on his face.

Albus looked at the dragon’s eyes, seeing understanding and anger within them. This beast was no mere beast, and he couldn’t help but join Sirius in entertaining an impossible idea for a moment. “I’ve known his family (on his father’s side at least) for over a century. I taught both of his parents, as well as his father’s parents and their parents before them. They were some of my greatest friends and allies. Harry’s name has been down for Hogwarts, the greatest school of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the world, since before he was born. When his parents, Lily and James Potter met their end, I tried my best to make sure he was protected and cared for. Failing in that duty is one of my greatest regrets.” His fist clenched on his wand, though with his control no sparks fell from it.

But the dragon was interested, “So, you were the one who placed the boy with his… relatives?” It growled.

“We were.” Albus confirmed, “Minerva here didn’t quite agree, but there really was no other option.” The dragon’s chest noticeably started to glow, seeming to have molten heat trying to escape its scales.

“Why?” It growled, clearly incensed.

“It is…a rather long story.” Albus said carefully.

The dragon snarled, “You have the time.” An ominous note crept into its voice, “I am waiting.”

Albus took a deep breath and allowed a part of himself to begin to feel amused at the fact that he was about to go into teacher-mode on a dragon. Of all of the strangest things he’d ever done, this may actually take the cake, “Well, that involves a lot of history that I am sure you are probably uninterested in.” He noticed a slight quirk of its mouth, before it resumed its staring contest with him, “Suffice to say that we were at war with a certain… individual.”

The dragon noticed with interest how both of their faces screwed up in a light amount of distaste, “Tom Marvolo Riddle was one of my students, back during the second World War. He was a model student. Straight Outstanding grades. He became head boy at Hogwarts in his final year. He was exactly the kind of student who you would expect to become a leader in our world. Charismatic. Handsome. Polite. Well spoken.”

Minerva grimaced as Albus continued, “And utterly depraved. He murdered for the first time at fifteen years of age, and managed to frame it on another student. I protested of course, even if I had no actual proof at the time. I knew that Rubeus Hagrid never would have done such a thing. But no one would believe a half giant with a propensity for dangerous animals over the model student. I kept a close eye on him afterwards, but there was little I could do after he left the school. I had…my own issues to deal with in the same period.” He turned away.

“Years passed, and Tom Riddle became a ghost. He did not go into the ministry as expected. He got a job as a simple clerk in a questionable store. Kept his ear to the ground, looking for certain…heirlooms he wanted to collect. And once he had those heirlooms, he simply disappeared. For nearly a decade and a half, he vanished entirely.” Minerva trailed off, since Albus knew more than she did.

“And when he reappeared, he brought with him the darkest of magicks and the worst intentions.” Albus said calmly, no matter the rage filling him, “He began recruiting. Any who wished to deal harm to others joined his banner, whether they believed in his cause or not. The darkest of wizards and witches; the most disgusting of werewolves; dark creatures and beasts… It started small at first. Disappearances once every few months. Pro-muggleborn Laws failing in the Wizengamot. Whispers of a nameless fear. Then, things intensified. Powerful Auror squads dying out. Muggle families tortured and destroyed. Businesses owned by muggleborn exploding with their patrons and owners still inside.” He growled, anger infusing his being. Even the dragon shifted slightly at the amount of power it could feel from the old man, “Then, came the first true shot of the war. An entire muggleborn settlement vanished overnight; its people mauled by werewolves. We found the corpses of their children bloodied and sliced open in the streets, with the image of a skull with a snake for a tongue flaming bright in the night sky.”

The dragon was calm during the story, but here its calm seemed to be tested. All of them winced as the room seemed to get hotter, and its chest scales started to glow from an inner fire. A small rumble echoed through the cavern.

Minerva was truly befuddled. What in the world did a dragon care for a history lesson, and why the hell did it seem to be getting angry?What did human children matter to it? She decided there was nothing for it but to continue. At the very least, it hadn’t roasted them yet, “Any not with them were against them. Lord V- V- Voldemort was the name Tom had chosen for himself, and it was one that most wizards came to fear. He liked to style himself as a King, and ruled as cruelly as a mad tyrant could. The only one he ever feared was Albus, for good reason of course.”

To his credit, Albus didn’t as much as twitch at that, “Lord Voldemort had powers I never will.” He said solemnly.

“Only because you are too noble to use them.” Minerva shot back just as quickly. Probably an automatic response at this point. The beast let out a chuff of amusement. “People disappeared daily; kidnapped off the streets in broad daylight. No one knew who to trust. Loyal followers and mind-controlled puppets could be around you at any time, with no telling of who was with him and who was against him. Oh, we fought. Plenty of us fought. But it was hard to fight a shadow. By the time the aurors deployed to help one distress call (and possibly a fake one at that) the next one was raised. And even when we did catch his followers red-handed, no one but Albus could have even a chance at defeating him. Families simply vanished overnight; both muggleborn and purebloods who rejected his doctrine. His reign of terror continued for years…and he was winning.” She said darkly.

Albus smiled sadly, “And then when many of us had lost hope…it happened. He attacked the Potters. Personally. James held him off, fighting like a man possessed. He was a genius with transfiguration (almost as much as I have been called) and was no slouch in other areas of magic. He held Lord Voldemort off for two minutes before he fell to the Avada Kedavra. The Killing Curse. And like a tiger stalking a baby antelope, Lord Voldemort climbed the stairs. Lily Potter blocked his path, shielding the crib of her baby. Lord Voldemort offered her life if she stood aside. Lily refused. She too fell to the Killing Curse. And then Lord Voldemort turned his wand towards the baby (little one-year-old Harry Potter) and cast the unblockable Killing Curse once more.”

Tonks piped in, “And the bloody curse bounced off Harry’s forehead and evaporated the dark wanker.” She grinned weakly, “No one knows what truly happened beyond that. The single most deadly curse known (one capable of passing through any shield made of magic and capable of killing with a single grazed pinky) just bloody bounced. Voldemort’s body was destroyed, leaving behind nothing but a torn black cloak and a lightning bolt shaped scar on Harry’s forehead.”

Sirius snorted, “Would have been nice if that ended it then and there, but the bastard’s insane followers were still around. I tried to confront the traitor who sold the Potters out, but he accused me and made me seem like the one who had betrayed them. Me!” He snarled, “Betraying my brother in all but blood! And then the bastard cut off his own finger and detonated a gas main before transforming into a rat and fleeing into the sewers, leaving me at the scene of the crime, shellshocked. They chucked me in Azkaban and never even asked for my side of the story.” He clenched his fists bitterly.

“And with Sirius in prison, and all other options either dead or crippled…” Albus sighed, “We had no choice. I took young Harry and tried to make sure he was taken care of. I gave him to his last living family, hoping that they would care for him as if he was their own child, as Lily would have done for them. I wove the strongest protections I could around him to keep him safe from reprisal. Using the magic of Lily’s sacrifice, I was able to tie a protection based on blood to her son. As long as he lived with a blood relative of Lily’s, no magic could hurt him. No one with the intent to cause him harm could come near him. And most importantly, no follower of Voldemort could touch him.”

Minerva seemed close to tears, “And seven years ago that poor child’s house exploded, and he vanished. It was undoubtedly one of our greatest failures.”

The dragon was stock-still as it regarded them. A low rumble filled the cavern, and this time it was not a chuckle. A light amount of smoke started escaping from the gaps between its teeth as it snarled. They all stiffened as they realized the danger had once again skyrocketed. The dragon was furious, but they weren’t exactly sure why. They gripped their wands tightly and prepared to transfigure a protective barrier in front of them at the slightest sign of an attack.

Then the beast roared. It was so loud it shook the entire chamber. Mountains of gold were disturbed and crumbled all around them. They were both forced to put a sound-dampening barrier around their heads and even then, the sound was not muted. They could still hear it, even as their bones rattled. The roar stopped as it took in a deep breath. The inner glow coming from behind its scales intensified, and the heat became unbearable again. Its chest scales especially began looking positively molten. Then it turned its head and unleashed a cataclysmic blast of fire at one of the walls. The blast splashed against a rock face, and it started to boil. Steam rose as magma poured down the wall, looking very much like a volcanic flow.

Finally, the violence stopped, and it turned to look at them. Glare at them was more apt. A final growl and a snort had them removing the ear-protection cautiously. And then came the most shocking moment of all. It stood on its hind legs and began to shrink. Their jaws both dropped as it got smaller and smaller, as well as more and more humanoid. A hundred meters became ninety, then eighty. Its massive wingspan shrank, its tail curling up into its body. Its skin started lightening, losing its scaly patterns. Their minds were almost like a scratching record as they regarded the man who now stood before them.

He was taller than Sirius and not by a small amount. He had a fairly tidy beard, and was also heavily muscled. His skin was littered with little scars here and there, with yet more of his skin being covered in various tattoos, though they all looked like various runic scripts more than just elaborate designs. His hair was a wild mess, looking almost like a mane. And his eyes… His emerald eyes burned with an inner fire. “Well, you wanted me.” He held his arms out, which drew their attention to the fact he was very much naked, “Here I am.”

Tonks eyes were bulging as she stared, her mouth hanging open. Her eyes kept snapping back and forth between his piercing eyes and his… well, lower head. Sirius was staring at him in utter wonder that his impossible idea had come to fruition. Albus was regarding him as if he held the secrets of the universe within him. And Minerva?

Minerva’s eyes rolled into the back of her head, and she collapsed in a dead faint. Harry’s finger snapped forward, catching her with an easy levitation and preventing her from smashing her head. He gently lowered her, “So.” He said, “Besides him, obviously,” he said, pointing at his apparent godfather, “What do you want?”

“Uhm, well, that is…” Tonks stammered as her eyes dipped lower again, “Blimey, it’s massive!” She mumbled to herself, not noticing Harry’s slight smirk, “You’re naked, Harry!”

“Oh, so I am.” He snorted as if he hadn’t known, before snapping his fingers. Immediately, a pair of jeans and a shirt appeared on his body, “But I can’t help but notice, you haven’t answered my question.”

“Ah, well, yes.” Albus dabbed at his forehead with a handkerchief, idly noting it may as well have been a sweat rag by now, “We would be happy to answer your questions, and we have a few of our own, no doubt.” He said, “But might we retire to somewhere more… comfortable?”

“My gold is plenty comfortable.” Harry’s smirk widened a little.

“He means somewhere that I’m not melting through an air conditioning charm.” Sirius said dryly, still holding himself back from diving at the boy and hugging the stuffing out of him. He was fairly certain it would be unappreciated.

Harry snorted, “Yes, I suppose for you regulars, my home is hot.” The trio weren’t sure whether to be insulted or not over being called ‘regulars.’ He sighed, “Alright then.” He walked forward until he was close to them before he raised his fist. Some of the tattoos lit up on his hand as he clenched. What appeared to be a hole in the very fabric of space tore itself into existence behind him and rushed forward, engulfing them. The trio of awake wizards didn’t even have a chance to ask what the hell he was doing before they found themselves back in the cool air of the forest.

“That is the second time in only a few minutes you have left me utterly befuddled, young Harry.” Albus remarked, staring at him with an excitement he hadn’t felt in decades.

“Well, get used to it.” Harry smirked, “Plenty more where that comes from.”

…

Minerva’s first waking action was to groan out loud, “Urgh, my head. I had the strangest dream.”

“And what dream was that my dear?” Albus asked her. He sounded entirely too amused.

She scowled at him, “That we found Mr. Potter and he somehow managed to transform into a great honking dragon.” She snorted, “Entirely ridiculous, of course. Everyone knows Magical Animagi are strictly impossible. The bloody beast wasn’t even a real dragon.”

“Mhm.” Tonks sounded just as amused as Albus. “Yup. You’re right, professor. Ain’t no way.”

“After all,” Sirius continued, “Surely if such a thing were possible, someone would have done so by now.”

Minerva opened her mouth… and then closed it. She pinched the bridge of her nose, “Please tell me I just slipped and hit my head and had a strange dream.”

And then reality kicked in as an earth-shaking roar sounded in the distance, making her jump in fright. It rapidly closed in to their location, with a noise sounding like a hurricane approaching with it. The massive dragon burst into the sky above them, circling their little clearing once before coming in to land. It shrank as it descended, losing its scaly look once more. The boy (thankfully clothed this time) flapped his wings slowly to finish his landing, before they disappeared into his back. “Awake, are we?”

Minerva felt like a first year, and acted like one too, “You’re impossible!” She said, pointing a finger accusingly at the boy.

He looked entirely too smug, and his eyes were glowing almost as brightly as Albus’s, “No, I’m Harry.”

“Can you not encourage him, Harry?” Tonks let out a groan as Sirius leapt from his seat on the fallen log, cheering.

Minerva snorted not unlike a dragon herself. Harry swore he could see some sparks fly from her nostrils. She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. After a slow five count in her head, she spoke again, “It is not your transformation that is impossible. The ability itself is rare, but that is because few ever choose to pursue it. Every witch or wizard has the capability to do so. The reason we have so few Animagi around is the commitment of time and resources required, on top of the high aptitude required in multiple fields. I am talking about what you transformed into. Everything I know about the Animagus transformation as well as millennia of recorded history states that a magical Animagus should be impossible.”

Harry snapped his fingers, the earth raising into something not unlike a throne behind him, which he fell into haphazardly. With what looked like a sleight of hand, a luscious red apple appeared, and he took a bite from it. He inclined his head to her, “And it was attitude like that which kept me from going to Hogwarts.” He took another quick bite, “Or Beauxbatons. Or Ilvermorny. Or any magical school, really.”

The four adults twitched at the admission, and Minerva looked like she had been slapped at the admission, “Wait, you mean you-” Tonks started to ask, but he interrupted her.

“Knew about Hogwarts and Voldemort before you entered my cave?” He smirked at her, “Of course, I did.”

“Then why the history lesson?!” She asked him incredulously.

“Why else?” His smirk widened, “It was funny watching you lot almost piss yourselves.” Minerva and even Albus facepalmed at the admission.

“I don’t know whether to be mad or proud.” Sirius deadpanned as Tonks glared at his godson, “James would have been laughing his ass off, so I’ll go with proud.”

“Don’t get me wrong.” Harry said, “All I knew was the garbage posted in books and the papers. It was also an opportunity to get information from those who were actually in the thick of it.” He polished off his apple and threw the core over his shoulder. His casual toss with his strength meant the core flew over a mile backwards. “And I knew nothing about who put me with the Dursleys or that you were my godfather. It was a bit of fun, sure, but that didn’t mean I got nothing out of it.”

“So, you consciously chose to stay away?” Albus asked him, “Perhaps even received letters and declined entry to any schools?”

“That’s right.” Harry turned to him, “When I first regained my human mind and ability to resume human form, I set out to find information on what the hell I had done and how I had done it. I eventually found the wizarding village in Salem, Massachusetts. Fantastic atmosphere, excellent shops with good selections of books…” He trailed off, “And yet in every corner I looked, I only saw ‘impossible’ this, ‘animagi cannot become magical animals’ that. I found more information on other wizarding villages and how to get to them. Over the years, I’ve visited Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Argentina. I flew across the Pacific and went to Japan, Russia, Mongolia, India, Africa… picking up knowledge along the way. And everywhere I looked, all I could see was book after book telling me that things I could already do were impossible.” He snorted, “I chose to stay away because I felt you had nothing to offer me, and didn’t want to wait around for seven years being told what to do and what to think.”

The four of them swallowed heavily. Harry certainly wasn’t anything like what they had expected him to be, “Bit arrogant, innit?” Tonks asked lightly.

“Can you blame me?” He raised his eyebrow at her, “Hell, even back when I was seven, I was already bigger than the biggest breed of dragon that’s ever lived. By double. How exactly was I supposed to take anything seriously?” He shook his head, “No. One of the only formal arts I got any use of was Runes and script magics.” He raised his hand, proudly displaying the runic scripts tattooed on it.

“Hold on.” Sirius shook his head, “Yeah, I kinda get where you’re coming from, but can we just back the bus up a wee bit?” He stared at Harry incredulously, “You traveled?! Around the whole world apparently?”

“Uhhh.” Harry blinked at him in confusion, “Yeah?”

“How were you never found?” Sirius asked him, “You survived the bloody Killing Curse! Every magical community on earth has heard your name and has a vague description of you! How was ‘angry, impossibly large dragon barbecues village’ not a major headline at some point? You would have been recognized and mobbed immediately!”

Harry started to chortle, “Ah yes, that would have been extremely annoying.” He smirked, before he started to visibly change and age, until he looked nothing like what anyone would have expected. He had fiery red hair and brown eyes, and all of his features were subtly different. Not even his mother would have recognized him as Harry Potter.

“PFFFFTTTTT!” Tonks sputtered all over the place, “YOU’RE A BLOODY METAMORPHAGUS TOO?!?!?!” She was only a little worse than the other three.

“A what?” Harry looked at her in confusion.

“A metamorph!” Tonks said, before concentrating. Her appearance completely changed, until an exact copy of Harry sat in their midst.

“Fucking hell!” Harry gaped, “How did you do that?!” He poked her in the chest, finding only hard muscle, “It’s a full body change?”

“Is yours not?” Tonks calmed down at that realization. She smirked, “Also, went straight for me boob, huh? Little pervert.”

“Guilty as charged.” Harry shrugged carelessly, “And no, mine isn’t!” He snapped his fingers again and his shirt vanished. More of those tattoos were glowing, though these were actually a Japanese script, “It’s just an illusion controlled by these runes. I can’t change too much or else there will be a noticeable difference in size and shape.” The runes stopped glowing, and he switched back into his regular skin.

“Ha! Way to make a girl feel special!” Tonks resumed her normal form, smirking again. “Glad to know there’s at least one thing I’m better at than you.” She winked.

He half smiled, before continuing, “In any case, the facts don’t change. If so many things I could already do were thought to be impossible, how many of them actually were?” He asked rhetorically, “And so, I decided I would teach myself. I could already do magic well enough. My draconic form meant my human body was extremely adapted to magic already. I basically skipped through all the growing children and even adults do in terms of magical power, which meant I could just do what I wanted. By the time I made it to Salem, I could already strengthen my body, levitate things, conjure the elements, control the earth, blah, blah blah, blah blah.” He said, “And again, I was disappointed, ‘spin your wand’ this, ‘twirl your wand’ that. Wand. Wand. Wand. Wand. Again, for stuff I could already do without one. And even if I wanted one, it was heavily regulated and required me to be fourteen before I could even get one.”

Albus shook his head, “Yes, I suppose I understand now. I can’t say I like it, but I cannot blame you for coming to the decision you did. When I was younger-”

“Over a thousand years ago…” Sirius made ‘spooky’ motions with his hands.

Albus actually rolled his eyes, “A thousand years? I wouldn’t hope to make it half that long.” He turned back to Harry, “Anyway, when I was younger, I no doubt would have come to those same decisions had something similar happened to me.” He peered at the boy, “Though I can’t help but wonder what you’re leaving out. Finding a magical community with no one to show you the way is…difficult, to say the least.”

“Don’t ask questions you don’t want answers to.” Harry stared at him seriously. “I’ve read those Harry Potter fantasy books. The ones that put me on a pedestal as this ‘paragon of virtue,’ slaying dragons at ten years old.” He smirked, “Only half of that statement is true, and it’s not the half they want.”

Albus swallowed heavily, “The goblins?”

“The goblins.” Harry’s smile was razor sharp, “Those cretins have attacked me and mine dozens of times over the past eleven years, trying to regain what I took from them. Eventually I got bored of just slaughtering them.” The four of them flinched at the admission, and both of the educators started getting worried. They needed to bring someone like this to Hogwarts? “Again, don’t ask questions you don’t want answers to.”

They all swallowed heavily again, once again aware that this was not a normal person they were dealing with. Tonks decided to change the subject a bit, because she feared this was going to get a bit too heavy. She turned to Albus and Minerva, “I have a question, professors. I’m a metamorph and I was always told that I could not be an Animagus too. That they were incompatible skills, though now I’m kind of doubting that too. So, I never really looked too deep into it. What is even involved in becoming one? And why is Harry’s form impossible… well,” She chuckled, “Beyond his beastie not actually existing.”

“Just because it isn’t real to you doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.” Harry smirked slightly, “After all… to millions the world over, those beasties are very real. Such a shame that the real-life models are so… disappointing.”

“Wait, what?” Sirius asked, “What the hell does that mean?” His brow was furrowed, “How can something that doesn’t exist be real?”

“You never watched a movie?” Harry raised his eyebrow.

All four of them balked. Even Minerva, who had only seen a very small number of movies, and she hadn’t been impressed by the black-and-white moving pictures, “Uhh, yeah?” Sirius started to sweat, “Lily showed us some before…” He trailed off, “But what does that have to do with anything? They were okay, but they were about as realistic as a natural flying pig.”

“Ha!” Harry laughed, “The technology behind them has become much better over the decades. Nowadays they can totally fool you. Here.” He held his fingers to his head in an ‘okay’ sign, pinching near his temple and bringing out a silvery strand of memory.

“A memory? You have a Pensieve?” Albus asked eagerly.

“An interesting device, but no.” Harry said, “I’ve recreated them before, but decided they weren’t quite what I was looking for.” He then started to spin the memory above them, and it started to expand into a cloud of white fog, which quickly engulfed them. “I watched this in school when I was pretty young.” He said as a familiar yet utterly foreign scene weaved around them, much to their surprised awe.

“My word, you’ve recreated the spells and enchantments of a Pensieve in spell form?” Albus asked in wonder.

“No, it’s not quite as good.” Harry denied as they floated above the scene, “But it is far more convenient for a mass showing.” He said, “This was a movie adaptation of a very famous fantasy novel. You could say that this scene was what began my fascination with dragons, and part of what shaped my idea of what dragons were.”

They watched as a very short man with very hairy feet climbed the mountain and took a goblet from a pile of gold, which started a cascade revealing a draconic eye, not unlike what had happened in the Hoard. They watched the little man’s terror grow as the beast awoke, and pulled itself from its plunder.

“Merlin, it’s even bigger!” Minerva whimpered, “This is what muggles come up with for entertainment?!”

“That’s right.” Harry smirked as they watched Smaug taunt and play with Bilbo, “And Smaug wasn’t even the biggest dragon of Middle Earth. That honor falls to Ancalagon the Black, who in lore broke several mountains when he fell from the sky. He was never put to film though, so all we have is art.” He smirked, “Of him holding mountaintops in his claws.”

“…Well fuck.” Sirius summed it up aptly.

“This doesn’t make any sense though!” Tonks asked in frustration as the scene ended and Harry dissolved the memory, “How can a fictional creature be an Animagus form?! How did you do it?!”

“You’re assuming…” Harry said, “That I had anything to do with it at all.” He stared at her, “I was just a child dreaming of dragons. And then I was one.”

Sirius shook his head, “It can’t have been accidental magic. That’s not how it works.”

“He’s right.” Minerva said, “There are key differences between transforming into an animal and an Animagus form. Firstly, the process is completely wandless. Secondly and far more importantly is what happens to you when you transform. Being turned or turning yourself into an animal will give you the same instincts and mental capabilities of that animal. You will quite literally be incapable of thinking as a human if the chosen form does not have enough brain power to sustain it. That is why it is extremely dangerous to do and why there are fairly harsh penalties for doing it to someone against their will. There have been cases where humans have completely lost their minds from prolonged exposure to forced Transfiguration as a punishment.”

She conjured a glass and had a drink. “Animagi on the other hand, keep their mental faculties intact no matter the form. The final difference is that an Animagus form is truly another form, and both forms draw from the other. A dog Animagus has heightened loyalty. A wizard stricken with bad eyes who becomes a jaguar will wake up with perfect vision. A bear Animagus will have extremely high strength and a highly improved sense of smell. The form improves the wizard as much as the wizard embraces the form. But not all of that is a good thing, as insect Animagi generally have less respect for personal space and can even grow a lot nosier than they once were.”

“Well, I can indeed confirm that I have a true Animagus form then.” Harry said cheerfully, making them raise their eyebrows. And then he punched the floor, and a very small quake jolted them in their seats.

“Ah.” Albus swallowed, “Indeed.”

“What of the instincts?” Sirius asked curiously.

“Well, seeing as how I still have a vague desire to roast the headmaster, I would say those came along too.” All of the adults stiffened at the casual admittance of the desire for violence, and their wariness shot up when Harry’s suddenly burning gaze turned on the headmaster, “The only reason I have not, Albus Dumbledore, is that I recognize that you truly were trying to help me. There was no lie in your sorrow or your wariness. My other side wanted nothing more than to burn you. The result of that desire is now etched inside of my home.”

“Harry, I…” Albus choked up.

“I understand you wanted nothing more than to protect me.” Harry cut across, his eyes draconic slits, “But the people you left me with almost did as much harm as you tried to prevent. You focused all of your effort on keeping me safe from without and therefore allowed me to be harmed from within.” Albus looked ashen and Minerva and Sirius were glaring a hole through him. Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them, they were once more normal human eyes. He turned to Minerva, “You were saying?”

She sniffed once more at Albus’ direction, before turning back to him, “Yes, yes, where was I? Becoming an Animagus is… a bit of a contradictory process if I do say so myself. It can be exceedingly simple or bordering impossible depending on the person. While I have heard myths and legends of other methods, they are nothing more than myths and legends.”

Sirius nodded, “I can confirm that. Trust me, the boys and I looked. The only true method known for discovering your form involves a potion. One that is exceedingly difficult to brew and requires near enough aptitude in Potions to earn a Mastery. None of us were amazing at Potions, and you can’t buy the bloody things. It took us two years of attempts before one of us finally managed to brew the damn thing correctly. The ingredients are very expensive to boot, so it was only via mine and James’ allowances that we were even able to buy the ingredients over and over again. And that’s just the beginning. After drinking the potion and discovering your form, you still need the gift in Transfiguration to actually perform the transformation.”

Silence rang in the clearing for a beat. Harry was smirking at them. Albus was again the first to cotton on, “A potion young Harry here could not conceivably have gotten his hands on.” He deadpanned.

Another beat, “That’s right.” Minerva slowly muttered, “There is no way you could have consumed that potion. Not even if your mother had left it for you as a gift. Not even the most powerful stasis spells could have kept that potion from going bad for half a decade. Its shelf life is tiny.”

“I can promise you that I drank no potions.” Harry replied dryly. “And I can assure you that I never would have seen anything left by my mom in that house. They would have thrown anything my mom left me into the fire pit and had a bonfire.”

Albus took a deep breath as he clenched his hand into a fist, “Harry, no number of apologies will make up for what you went through. I was so certain I had looked at every angle that I missed the forest for the trees.” He looked at Harry with a look of such unbridled sadness that Harry was taken aback, “What did they do to you, my boy? What happened that night?”

Harry looked away, and the temperature in the clearing spiked and got unbearable for a moment. He looked back at the wizened old man expressionlessly, “They weren’t overtly bad in my earliest memories. Oh, they were never loving, but they weren’t monsters. They even allowed me to read some of the same books and play some of the same games as Dudley. They hadn’t been cruel until much later on. I got older and they started taking away things that had once been perfectly normal for me to use. Petunia kept shoving more and more of the house chores on me, until I was practically their servant. Every time I did any magic, they got worse. They had never given me a proper room, and instead put me in the cupboard under the stairs. After a while they started locking me in there for days at a time with barely any food.”

With every word, all four of the adults were slowly getting redder and redder. Tonks’ hair had gone from violet to scarlet red and her face was even starting to purple.

Harry could have stayed silent. Could have kept all of this to himself. But he wanted Albus Dumbledore to hurt. “Petunia once brained me with a skillet for dropping a plate because my hand-me-down trainers were torn up and I tripped. Dudley stopped being friendly and started chasing off anyone who wanted to be friends with me at school. His favorite game was Harry Hunting with his gang. But the worst was Vernon. He had never been particularly caring. No, he was the coldest of the three to me right from the off. But as I got older, he grew more prone to fits of rage. He belted me raw after I scored higher than his precious brat in a test. One day I snuck one of my favorite fantasy novels home from the school library. The same one that the movie adaptation I just showed you was made from. They had allowed them once upon a time, but eventually took them away too. Probably didn’t want me getting ideas. They never wanted me to know what I was. They told me my parents were drunks who got themselves killed in a car crash. The same event that gave me my old scar.”

“THEY WHAT?!” The adults exploded. A crushing amount of magical power that impressed even Harry was radiating from the old man as he clenched his fists so hard that they shook. Sirius had a look in his eye that was making it very clear he was a Black. Minerva was carving marks into the rock she sat on. Her nails had transformed into claws, befitting her own Animagus form. Tonks had lost some control over her metamorph powers, and was looking altogether too much like her insane and now-imprisoned aunt.

“You heard me.” Harry said, “Now calm the fuck down. They’re long dead.” With a herculean effort, the four witches and wizards leashed their rage, and Harry was able to finish. “Like I said… they didn’t want me to know what I was. Vernon caught me with the library book, and he went…apeshit. That day he broke my arm and tore up the book. When he found out that it was a library book and that he would have to pay for destroying it?” Harry smiled. It was not a kind smile. “That night was the first time I transformed.”

“I told you Albus.” Minerva snarled after a moment, her own eyes becoming cat-like as she glared at the man, “I told you that they were the worst sort of muggles!” She closed her eyes before drooping, “And yet I still allowed you to make the decision. I’m as much to blame as you are.”

“No, it’s my fault.” Sirius snapped hoarsely, sounding like he was having to hold back his growls of rage. “He was my godson. I should have taken him and gone to ground. I should have protected him!” He punched the log he sat on, “But I had to be Sirius fucking Black and go off half-cocked to avenge my brother. I had to give him to Hagrid and go after fucking Pettigrew for his betrayal! This is on me.”

“You can play the blame game all you like. It won’t change a fucking thing.” Harry smiled nastily, “And despite how much I hate what happened, I rather like the end result.” His hand ignited in fire, which he stared as he moved his fingers. He settled back on his little throne as it extinguished, “But now it’s your turn. I’ve been patient long enough. How is it you found me, and what the hell do you even want? Hogwarts admission was four years ago, and I think I’ve made it pretty clear I’ve got no interest in your school even if it was now.”

Minerva swallowed again, “Unfortunately Mr. Potter, I don’t think you have a choice.” She said quietly, and they all stiffened as his face closed up, “At least not for this year.” She hurried to add.

“Explain.” Harry said flatly.

“Hundreds of years ago, there was a competition between the three major European magical schools.” Sirius said, “It was called the Triwizard Tournament. A single Champion was chosen from each school by an impartial, magical judge, and they would compete for both fame and a monetary prize.”

Tonks took over, “It used to run every couple years, but eventually the tasks got so dangerous that competitors started to die during tournaments. After one particularly stupid idea killed spectators too, the tournament was canceled permanently.”

“In the past few years, the idea of reviving the tournament was put forth. Something safer than it once was, with more events and participants. None of us really liked how ninety-nine percent of our students would just be spectators. It seemed almost a waste to even have them come. So, we changed the format. We wanted to build a sense of community between our students with friendly competition. Academics, dueling, quidditch… A spiritual successor, as it were, with a new name to boot.” Albus said, smiling softly, “However, one thing that did not change was the concept of a Champion for each school, who would also be participating in slightly more difficult tasks. A week ago on Halloween, our Champions were all chosen.” He sighed, “Only something happened that none of us expected.”

“Let me guess…” Harry drawled, “My name came out?”

“It did.” Albus confirmed, “It’s the only reason we knew for a fact you were even alive. The Goblet of Fire is the impartial judge, and once your name comes out of that cup, you are magically contracted to participate in the tournament, with drastic consequences if you do not. None of us know how all of our defenses were bypassed and the Goblet hoodwinked into thinking a fourth school existed, but that is what happened.”

“So, that’s what I felt…” He said idly, and he raised his hand. A strand of magic became visible coming out of his chest, the other end vanishing into the distance. Three gasps rang through the air, with only Albus keeping his slight surprise (At this point, he was determined to just think Harry could do anything until proven wrong at this point) hidden, “About a week ago, this little leech attached itself to me. I wondered what it was.” He smirked, “It would be quite easy to just snap this little strand and end this farce. It’s certainly not strong enough to go through my magical resistance.” He tugged down, stretching the magical strand as the four stiffened. And then he let go and the strand rebounded, with only a rubber-like ‘twang’ missing to complete the picture, “But hell, this could be entertaining. I hope you’ve got deadlier obstacles than widdle baby dragons for me to fight.”

“The point was to not be deadly!” Minerva snapped.

“Shame.” He grinned, “I suppose I’ll have to find some other way to entertain myself then.” He turned to his godfather, “Oi, how pretty are the birds at this place?”

“Not another one!” Minerva wailed as Sirius’s face lit up in glee.

-]|[-

Harry raised an eyebrow from under the brim of his cap. “Well, it’s a nice wall, but it hardly looks like a shopping district.”

Tonks rolled her eyes as Sirius snickered, “Hush you.” She tapped on the wall with her wand, “If, by some odd miracle, a muggle managed to slip into the Leaky Cauldron unnoticed, he still would not be able to get into the Alley. This is a gate, smartass. And didn’t you say you came to wizarding villages before?”

“Not this one.” Harry said, “I never bothered coming back to Britain. The only thing for me here was finding out more about my parents, and I didn’t feel it was worth the risk of revealing myself.”

Sirius shook his head, “Well, the cat will be out of the bag soon enough. It’s long past time you saw your family’s holdings.” He patted Harry on the shoulder cautiously, but Harry allowed it. “Nice work thinking of the hat, by the by. I did not feel like getting mobbed today.”

“Yes, well, I would have just used my illusion runes, but apparently the cretins have their little tricks.” Harry replied.

Tonks winced, “At least try to be polite to them.”

“Are you polite to the ants that are constantly trying to sting you?” Harry growled, and Tonks winced again. Gods, Harry was nothing like what she had been expecting. “But I’ll play along. For now.”

Tonks and Sirius shook their heads as they made their way to the snow-white building. It was a massive building made of the purest white marble. The doors were made of burnished bronze and had armored guards standing vigil. Harry’s nose wrinkled as he couldn’t help but sneer. There were far more guards than were needed to watch an entrance. He voiced this, and Sirius snarked back.

“Yes, well, some years ago, the Goblins around the world got way meaner and way more standoffish. Security became awful. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?” His meaning was obvious, and Harry smirked.

“Oh, I wouldn’t worry too much. After all, if they’re too busy throwing bodies and weapons at me, they can’t…” He coughed, “Rebel.”

Sirius froze as if that hadn’t occurred to him before, “Huh… You’re right.” They quit talking about it as they reached the doors.

The doors opened soundlessly, as expected. Greedy little bastards that they were, Goblins at least knew how to live in style, and spared no expense to make sure the shining white building in the center of the Alley gleamed. The next set of doors were silver, and he ignored the threat written on the plaque. It was hard to feel scared of whatever toys the Goblins had when he had personally crushed and eaten so many of them.

He almost snorted at the opulence of the main hall they walked into. There was gold everywhere and a whole lot of it. Matched with marble pillars that shone, seemingly freshly polished. Each desk was a rich light wood, raised high so that the tiny beings could loom over their customers. Each goblin was dressed in a suit. They were going all out, to the nines, with one of them even sporting a monocle.

Harry could smell the bloodlust each being held even without focusing his senses.

They approached the nearest open teller, and the Goblin sneered at them, “Lord Black. Welcome.” He didn’t sound very sincere, “What do we owe the pleasure today?”

“We’re here to visit a vault.” Sirius took out a key, and placed it on the desk.

The Goblin had an ugly look on his face as he eyed the key, “This vault does not belong to you. Only its rightful owner can open it.” What it did not say was that it could allow the vault to be accessed, but that would reset the number of years before Gringotts could declare that line dead and claim its contents for their own. “Such a pity that no one has seen the boy in almost two decades.”

“That…” Harry said, piercing the Goblin with his eyes as he raised his head, “Is where you’re wrong.” The Goblin flinched back minutely, before looking down at the key again. A look of anger crossed his face as he realized that they would not be able to claim the Potter accounts after all. “And I want a full review of my accounts.”

“Very well!” The Goblin snarled furiously, “I shall require some blood to confirm it and generate the review.”

Harry’s eyes flashed, though he managed to keep his pupils from changing with sheer will. His blood? He held back a snort. It figured that the only way the little monsters would be able to bleed him would be when he had to offer it freely to get what he wanted, “Very well. Where do I need to go?”

He floated an ostentatious golden slip of paper with the Gringotts logo embossed on it as well as a sharp-looking quill down to them. “Prick your finger and place it on the sheet. The fifty-Galleon fee for this procedure will be deducted from your account.”

Harry sneered right back at the creature before he dragged a sharp claw across his thumb, splitting the digit open and allowing a drop of blood to fall on the sheet. A small pulse of healing magic had the wound sealed and the rest of any blood vanished. Immediately, the slip of paper flashed black, and golden letters began appearing.

The goblin looked even angrier now, and its mind was an open book to Harry. What he saw made him want to tear out the beast’s innards with his claws. What had the Goblin fuming was what Harry’s actions had cost them. Goblin-cast blood protections were fairly rare in Gringotts. There were some vaults with them, but all wizards usually requested such rituals to be unwitnessed. There was rarely any chance to collect willingly given blood when they were finished. That quill was meant to capture some inside a hidden reservoir, making it simple for Goblins to bypass blood wards (inside the bank and otherwise) when necessary.

Harry kept his face expressionless, but boy did he have some juicy information to give his godfather once they were out of this gaudy place.

The process took roughly two minutes, and when it was finished Harry picked it up.

Harry James Potter

Vaults

687 – Potter Heir Trust Vault:

Liquid: 12,000 Galleons

Effects: N/A

17 – Potter Family Vault:

Liquid: 839,548 Galleons

Effects: Various Potter Family Heirlooms, Portraits, and the Potter Family Library

Annual 300 Galleon maintenance fee to Gringotts.

3849 – Personal Vault of Lily and James Potter

Liquid: 0 Galleons

Effects: Personal Libraries, Awards, Belongings

Harry smiled widely. Even the greedy dragon in him could frankly care less about the gold. His parent’s vaults had the actual value. He pocketed it as well as the transaction log after a glance, snorting slightly when he saw that the trust vault had plenty of Hogwarts Tuition transactions.

Properties

The cottage at Godric’s Hollow was turned into a national landmark by the Ministry of Magic. Potter Manor was burned down. Its land was sold off to pay outstanding debts.

He had to bite back a growl at that information. It wasn’t as if he intended on coming back to live in the Isles, but for the government to have turned his parent’s home into a National bloody Wonder pissed him off.

“687 and 3849.” He said sharply. He did not bother with false politeness. The goblin did not either as it whistled for another goblin to lead them away, tossing back the key negligently and paying no more attention to them. Harry pocketed the key and allowed himself to be led away.

“What’s got you so pissed off?” Tonks leaned in and whispered in his ear.

“Oh, just you wait…” He whispered back as they got onto the cart. Sirius and Tonks whooped and hollered on the way down, which actually amused Harry and even the young Goblin leading them to his vaults. Harry meanwhile was unaffected. When one was a dragon, something like this felt tame in comparison.

They went to 687 first, which Sirius had explained was his trust vault. He was supposed to have a monthly limit of 1,000 Galleons out of it, and a yearly limit of 12,000. It was also supposed to refill yearly, both up until he reached his majority. Which, of course, was now, so he hadn’t even gotten to make use of that feature. He took the bag that Sirius handed him and snapped his fingers. Every single Galleon in the vault flew inside the enchanted pouch before he sealed it and pocketed it. Harry turned to the Goblin and said, “Close this account. I’ve no need of it any longer.”

“Very well.” He replied, and touched the door once it was closed. The door flashed, and he said, “Done. Let’s move.”

They quickly made their way to the next vault, and Harry realized it was much smaller than the other. “Do you want some privacy, Harry?” Tonks asked him.

“No.” Harry said, “I won’t be perusing them here.” He stepped inside, noting that it appeared more like a storage unit than an actual vault. There were trunks lined up on the far wall, six in total. On the sides were large, sturdy shelves, holding a bunch of knick-knacks and other apparel. He shook his head rapidly, trying to hold in his emotions. He approached the trunks, each in a slightly different style and color. On top of the middle two trunks were single letters, each in decidedly different handwriting.

Letters from his parents. He sure as hell wasn’t going to look at any of this in Gringotts of all places. He gently took the letters and quickly spelled them to be as indestructible as he could make them. He then shrunk them and placed them on his left arm, and they vanished, sealed onto his body. The Japanese character for ‘seal’ appeared where there had previously been no ink. The trunks followed, and then he quickly conjured another trunk to put the rest of the knickknacks in. That last trunk also found its home in his arm. Looking at the empty vault, he exited, “Close this one too. Let’s go Sirius, Tonks.”

“You have got to teach me that trick!” Tonks was staring at his arm, “That would be so useful!”

“I’ll think about it.” He winked at her, drawing an eye roll.

“Well, come on then.” Sirius was interested too, but this wasn’t the place to be talking about Harry’s magic. They left Gringotts and the Alley quickly, making their way to Sirius’s home. Harry had nothing he wanted to buy, and he wasn’t supposed to be going to Hogwarts quite yet. They needed to prepare for him, after all, and Sirius did want to get to know his godson.

-]|[-

“Charming place.” Harry said, very much not meaning it.

“Trust me, I don’t want to be here any more than you do.” Sirius said, “Especially since Nymphadora won’t stop knocking that damn thing over.” His wand flashed and levitated the troll leg that his cousin had knocked over.

“Nymphadora?!” Harry asked incredulously. “Well, I suppose I get why you introduced yourself as Tonks.”

“DON’T. CALL. ME. THAT!” Tonks whirled around and snarled at the both of them, forgetting what was going to happen.

“ʹFilth! Scum! By‐products of dirt and vileness! Half‐breeds, mutants, freaks, begone from this place! How dare you befoul the house of my fathers‐” An older woman’s portrait blew the curtains on the wall apart, and she started to howl like a demented banshee.

“I’M SORRY!” Tonks squealed as she clapped her hands to her ears.

“For fucks sake! SHUT THE FUCK UP, YOU OLD HAG!” Sirius snarled as he tried to wrench the curtains shut.

And then a rumble filled the room that drowned out even the woman’s screeching. There was such a feeling of danger that even the portrait shut up. The growling coming from Harry was setting both Sirius and Tonks’ nerves aflame. “You.” He said, striding towards the portrait, his eyes faded into their draconic forms, “Will contemplate every possible meaning of the phrase, ‘Silence is golden.’ You will do this, because if I hear a single word from you in anything other than speaking volume, I will destroy your portrait.”

“Ha!” The old lady laughed, arrogance suffused in her tone, “And how will you do that, half breed? This is a load bearing wall, and my portrait has been enchanted to be unremovable and indestructible!”

“You vastly overestimate how much I care.” Harry said, “And my erstwhile godfather apparently hates this place, so I will gleefully burn this bitch down if that’s what it takes to remove you from existence.”

“You wouldn’t dare burn down the Anci-” The woman snarled back, but flinched when Harry raised his arm. His arm was rapidly becoming clawed and scaly before it ignited in flames. His entire limb looked like it was made directly from magma, and Tonks and Sirius were forced to back away rapidly.

Harry snarled as he swiped at the wall, and something told the occupant of the portrait to duck. His molten claws cut clean through the portrait and the wall behind it. It was only through his action that the entire wall didn’t begin to burn, with him reabsorbing the heat and flames as he went. He drew his claws from the wall, watching as the occupant trembled in terror.

“I-It’s not possible.” She whispered. “The-the portrait! The enchantments!”

“I’ve been doing the impossible since I was seven.” Harry shot back, “One, if you want to be pedantic and assign the credit for whatever my parents did to me instead. Now what’s it going to be?” He asked, raising his claws, and audibly popping his joints.

Still trembling, the woman nodded rapidly, still ducked under the four claw marks above her head, “I-I-I will be silent, my lord. Unless you wish me to speak.”

“Good.” Harry let the heat go, and his arm returned to normal. He snapped his fingers, and the gouges on the wall and the fabric of the portrait sealed themselves, appearing to have never been damaged. Only a slight sound from the walls moving and regrowing told the tale. “See to it that I do not need to teach this lesson a second time.” He stalked past a stunned Tonks.

Sirius stared at his mother’s portrait, and she stared back at him. Finally, her shivers stopped, and Walburga Black started to laugh, “Godson, huh?” She started to laugh harder, “Perhaps we were the fools. That boy will change this world.” She laughed harder and harder, before the curtains flopped down and covered her, completely muffling the noise.

“Holy shit Sirius.” Tonks gasped out, “He just tamed your mum.”

Sirius started to laugh, a slightly hysterical note in his voice, “I didn’t think it was possible to awe me more than the dragon, and there he goes, proving me wrong.” The two hurried after Harry, who had sheepishly realized that he didn’t know where he was supposed to be going. “Hey Harry, I don’t suppose you want to handle pest control too?” He clapped his godson on the shoulder, “Just throw out that ‘Don’t fuck with me’ aura from your dragon form. Pretty sure I’ll be able to just hold the door open while the vermin panic and leave.”

“Why do you even live here?” Harry asked, frowning.

“Necessity, unfortunately.” Sirius griped, “This is the seat of House Black. As much as I’d like to, I can’t just leave the place to rot. The family weaved some magic into the Lordship, which makes it so that if the head of house abandons this place, he will also abandon the Lordship. And that would mean the Black Family fortune would pass to the next in line.”

“Which are the damn Malfoys.” Tonks said, “Their head of house was a Death Eater who was able to escape punishment via greasing palms to avoid Veritaserum at his trial. He was able to claim all of his actions were done under the Imperius Curse. A load of bollocks is what that is.”

Sirius nodded, “I had no idea before I took my lordship that there was any such clause. I just took it so I could take my place on the Wizengamot and try to clean this fucking country up.” He side-eyed Harry, “And while I could just empty the Black vaults at Gringotts and, as you said, burn this bitch down-” His and Tonks’ lips quivered in amusement, “If I lose the Lordship, Malfoy gets my vote at the Wizengamot too.”

“Ah, politics.” Harry snorted, “Better you than me, boyo.”

“Fuck you mean? If I die, you’re my heir, bucko.” Sirius shot back.

Harry made a ‘surprised, but understanding’ face, “Oh, I get it. You want me to go full dragon.”

“We could start from scratch.” Sirius nodded agreeably, “Just hit that big ol’ reset button, as Lily used to say she was going to do if those, ahem, ‘inbred goat fuckers didn’t find a clue.’”

Harry burst out laughing, and Tonks followed.

-]|[-

Harry walked into his room for a few days and immediately, he bared his teeth. He could smell the scent of rot in the room, even with all the cleaning they had done. The bed and all the amenities were brand new, but even that didn’t help with the cloying scent. The walls were looking brown-ish, the floors were a dark gray, and the windows looked filthy. Harry snapped his fingers and everything in the room instantly vanished. He kneeled, placing a finger on the ground as he mumbled a spell under his breath. Normal things he could do with just his intent, but they were the simplest of the things he was capable of. He would hesitate to even call them spells. Words were capable of giving shape to magic and empowering it. It was why runes and other forms of written magical scripts had the potential to be so powerful.

For as much as he loathed the standardized magical schools of thought of this world, he had to admit that they had gotten that much right. It was much easier to teach children whose bodies were incapable of channeling great magical power in that manner, even if, in Harry’s opinion, it did more harm than good in the long run.

He had also been shocked to learn that any language seemed to work as long as you could give the words cohesion and meaning, and Sindarin worked particularly well for purifying and restorative spells. He finished his short chant, and decades of grime and dark, magical residue, seemed to melt off the walls, floors, and ceiling. It was as though scrubbers and waves were gliding through the room.

When it was finished, Harry rose to his feet. The black marble floors gleamed, the emerald-painted walls almost seemed to sparkle, and even the glass on the window was perfectly clear. The chandelier was giving off much more light too, and brighter light at that. “…They put black marble in the bedrooms? And painted the walls emerald?!” Harry facepalmed and then scratched his hair, “Well, I suppose warming charms exist.” He sighed as closed his eyes, focusing on what he wanted. He wasn’t going to go crazy. It wasn’t as if this place would be one he would be staying in a lot.

He snapped his fingers a couple times, and a large, king-sized bed appeared, on top of a very fluffy rug that covered a large part of the floor. A dresser appeared, matching the rich cherry wood of the bed, forever sealed with magic so it wouldn’t lose its color and luster like some woods normally did. The walls went from green to a light, neutral blue.

It certainly wasn’t his favorite style of room, but in such a dark house, he’d probably go spare if he had a dark room too. Sitting on his bed, he held his hand up to his left arm, undoing one of the seals and pulling out one of the letters. He took a deep breath, before opening the letter.

My precious son,

Harry clenched his jaw so tightly that if his teeth were at all normal, they would have all shattered. He was a grown man, a blooded warrior, and a god. Damn. Dragon. And yet three little words speared through every defense he had. He continued to read.

How does a father write a letter like this, assuming the worst? The father is meant to protect and provide for his loved ones, and if you are reading this, it means that I failed. It is my greatest hope that you shall never see this, and that I will one day be able to tell you all of this in person, when this nightmare is over. We have done everything we could to make sure that we are safe, but Voldemort is unlike any threat we’ve faced before. I fear even our preparations will not be enough, but we willhave the last laugh. Even if your mother and I don’t survive, we will go knowing you will be safe from that madman. I would trade my life a thousand times if it meant you and your mother survive.

But this letter is not just my final message to you, Harry. This letter is meant to make sure that at the very least, you know me, who I was, and that I love you more than you can imagine.

My name is James ‘Prongs’ Potter, your very proud father. I am a Transfiguration Master. The youngest to achieve it since Albus Dumbledore, in fact. I am also an Animagus, which I accomplished with three of my best friends in the early part of my fifth year at Hogwarts.

He had already known as much, from Sirius, but reading about it brought a smile to his face.

You’ll never find a record of that, so don’t bother looking. None of us were registered. We were…troublemakers…in our youth. You can’t hear your mother, so allow me to quote her, “You, mister, have a knack for severe understatements.”

He choked out a laugh.

Yes, we were collectively known in school (secretly of course) as the Marauders. We started small, with tiny pranks targeting a few people. Eventually, by the time we graduated, we accomplished our biggest goal: pranking Headmaster Dumbledore. You may now grovel in sheer awe at your father.

Harry let out a delighted laugh. He had needed this. He never knew how much he needed it until he was here, but he was happy all the same.

Unfortunately…as you may be able to tell from that last comment, we were rather…bigheaded. Full of ourselves. I regret much of what we did back then. There were times when we crossed over from pranking into bullying, even unintentionally. Our favorite target was a certain Severus Snape. He was always a nasty little bugger and gave as good as he got, but three and a half on one was never going to get him anywhere. It didn’t help that he was best friends with a wonderful young lady named Lily Evans, who I loved from the moment I first saw her.

Your spitfire of a mother loathed me and my friends. For good reason too, for what we did to Snape and my absolutely titanichead. I sincerely hope that this is a trait you did NOT inherit from me.

Unfortunately, that was a wasted wish… although Harry had a much better reason for it than his father had.

But, change can happen at any time, for good or ill. I had already started deflating midway through sixth year. Pranks and such stopped mattering as much to me, as well as one other of our quartet. Sirius was a bit more hot-blooded than I was, but Remus always had a good head on his shoulders. Peter always was a bit of a hanger-on. He just went with the flow. Then, in the summer before my seventh year, it happened.

Potter Manor burned, and the Dark Mark flew above it.

“Voldemort.” Harry hissed out, his skin rippling between skin and scales in his anger.

I was lucky. I was away from home at the time of the attack. My wonderful parents were not. I… I never even got to say goodbye. Tell them how much I loved them. I didn’t even have anything to bury.

Harry had to fight to keep his fingers under control, because this paper was certainly not something he wanted to destroy inadvertently.

Overnight, my goals in life had changed. I no longer wanted to be a Professional Chaser, as I had been dreaming of since I was a child. I couldn’t bury my parents, so instead, I was going to see Voldemort and allof his like-minded followers buried.

It was a poisonous, ruinous pit of despair I was stuck in. The only thing I was doing was killing myself. Working myself to the bone, day in and day out. Leaving myself exhausted. I was going to get myself killed if I actually met any Death Eaters. And I was dragging Sirius and Remus with me. Sirius was even breaking out some of the family magic he knew, and had sworn never to touch. He had always considered my parents his parents far more than those who sired him.

The only thing that saved me was your mother. We had never gotten along. Or rather, she had never gotten on with me. But Lily had a big heart. She saw instantly on the train to Hogwarts how much pain I was in. She called me ‘James’ rather than ‘Potter’ for the first time in her life. Kept me from walking away from her. Hugged me. Comforted me.

And for the first time, I allowed myself to grieve rather than rage. I sobbed on her shoulder for the entire trip to school.

“If you seek revenge, you should dig two graves.” That was what I had been doing, and it was only because of her that I was able to keep from stepping into it. I was never the same as I once was, but with Lily by my side, I felt like maybe, things would be okay. We grew closer throughout that year, and she even encouraged us to do a bit of pranking when we had vowed to put an end to it. Yeah, shocked me too, but she was right. In those dark and dreary days, laughter was something we sorely needed. She kept us from going too far like we once had, and the jokes and japes were all the better for it.

I graduated with top marks beside your mother, and we married soon after. Sirius was our best man, and for the first time since my parent’s deaths, I was truly happy.

I joined the Auror Corps and finished the training program with distinctions. Then, I was out in the field, capturing what Death Eaters I could and killing those who wished to fight to the bitter end. I would be lying if I said I did not enjoy giving them that end.

Felt horrible afterwards, of course. It was not one single night that Lily had to comfort me as I emptied my stomach over the lives I had taken.

In the course of the War, Lily and I fought Voldemort himself thrice, merely managing to survive long enough for Albus to appear and take over. The Death Eaters feared us completely. Very few of the Inner Circle could hold against even one of us. If Sirius was around for the fight (and he always was) it was usually a rout. But slowly, the war tired us, and Voldemort seemed to always have fresh bodies to throw at us. Gideon and Fabian Prewett fell to a group of five of the strongest of the Inner Circle in an ambush. We began suspecting a spy in our midst. We started losing trust in each other. We were losing.

Then, Albus came to us, warning us that we were in even more danger than usual. He urged your pregnant mum and I to go into hiding, as Voldemort would soon begin targeting us personally. We did not like it, but your safety was more important to us. We went under the Fidelius Charm, which leads me full circle to this letter.

Harry, know that you have been a shining light in our lives. There has not been a single moment since you came to us that I have not loved you. My son, you are our most precious legacy, and even if we cannot be with you physically, we will always be with you in spirit. Above all else, it is my greatest wish that you are happy, no matter who you choose to become.

Inside these trunks are our gifts to you, Harry. The left three are mine, while the right three are from mum. Inside the leftmost trunk, I have every single thing the Marauders ever created. Every prank item, every enchanted item, every spell… Everything. Along with them, are all of the instructions and notes on how to make them. While pranking may not be your thing, there is much in there that you will find useful. Additionally, I have some more…naughty stuff in there. I won’t age lock it, despite the death beams your mother is trying to use to ignite the back of my head with. Instead, I will trust that you will be mature enough to handle it. Have fun and be safe. When you find them, that is.

In the middle of my trunks, are all of my own personal creations. The things that had nothing to do with pranking. All of my personal spells, all of my improvements to spells in transfiguration, instructions on how to make duels go your way, tricks to give yourself an edge in a fight… I dislike the thought of you growing up in a world still in conflict, but I am pragmatic enough to realize it may come to pass.

In the rightmost of my trunks are the most precious gifts I can give you, Harry. This is a dual compartment trunk, with two different stored dimensions. In the first, there is only one item. A Pensieve. You likely will not know what that is, so I will tell you. It is a runic bowl capable of storing and viewing memories.

Harry already knew what that was, but his eyes widened regardless, ‘They didn’t really…’ He hurried to continue reading.

In the second stored dimension, there are hundreds of labeled vials of my own memories.

‘They did! No fucking way!’ A blazing smile graced his lips at the precious gift his parents had left him.

I’m sure you will find a use for them. If nothing else, it will allow you to feel closer to me. I hope they help give you some of the love I will not be able to.

Grow, Harry. Grow, my precious son, and be happy. Grow old, find love, and I will greet you with a smile on my face when it is finally your time.

Just take your time. Don’t show up here before you turn a hundred.

I love you my son. Take care.

James Potter.

“Thank you, dad.” He whispered to the empty room. He fell onto the mattress, spread eagle. How many years had it been since those dark days in his cupboard? How many times did he have to hear that his parents were drunks? Vagabonds? Once more, that boiling rage that erupted whenever he thought of his relatives started to erupt in his chest, before he forced the feeling down.

The dead were dead, by his breath no less. He would focus instead on his parents. Reading that letter had been a balm for his soul, though it was several years too late to change overly much for him. He doubted he would make much use of the items his father had left. Not with the differences in how he used magic. Not with how he disdained formal magical education. But he certainly would look through it all, if only to feel closer to his mother and father.

And who knew? Maybe he would get schooled by his parents in one way or another.

Sitting up, he gently folded the letter once more and placed it back into his arm. With a quick application of magic, he unveiled his mother’s letter. He had already been on an emotional roller coaster with his father’s letter, but he had another to read.

My Darling Boy,

My precious son. My Harry. I am so, so very sorry that I could not be there for you. You cannot possibly understand how much of a shining bundle of joy you have been to us. It is my greatest regret that we may not have as much time together as I wish. I wish I could just end this nightmare our world has been living in for the past decade, but I am only one person. We’ve been trying our hardest, but sometimes it seems like our world itself is fighting us.

My name is Lily Evans. I grew up in Cokeworth, with a loving mother and father and an older sister who I looked up to.

Harry had to fight really, really hard to hold back the snarl that threatened to tear itself from his throat. Such a pity that love was so undeserved, in the case of her sister.

For many years, we were a perfectly normal family. Well… sort of. Strange things began happening to me. A rock levitating here, a toy Petunia was using flying to me there… I was scared. We all were. All of these weird things happening, with no explanations. Then, I met a boy. His name was Severus Snape, and he was the one who showed me what I was. A witch. A firstborn witch, the first in my family. He taught me all he knew about Hogwarts and magic, and we became fast friends.

While an amazing thing to discover, it also became one of the most unfortunate dividing factors in our family, though I will never regret it. Petunia wasn’t a witch like me, though she wanted to be. She even wrote to Headmaster Dumbledore, begging to be allowed to come with me.

Harry was almost choking, and was turning a color that he would have remembered as being Vernon Purple II. He started to hiss, “That fucking bitch. All this time…she was envious!”

It fractured our relationship when she was denied. She had no magic of her own, after all. She became angry and spiteful, beginning to dislike me for something I could not change. The loving, doting older sister I had once known was slowly replaced by someone I did not recognize. Someone who would taunt and torment me. It was one of the most painful things of my life, because I loved her, and she hated me.

She was not the only one who hated me. From the moment I first entered the Wizarding world, I was discriminated against for being a firstborn. Muggleborn. Mudblood. This conflict has been raging in the wizarding world for millennia. It separated me from Severus eventually, when he went to Slytherin and I went to Gryffindor, along with your father and his friends. Toe-rag was an apt description of your father and his Marauders, at least for the first few years we schooled together. At times, I wished I had taken the hat’s advice and gone to Ravenclaw instead.

From the start, I was an utterly dedicated student. I loved magic, and everything about it. Well, the physical aspects at least. The discrimination was always hurtful, but you either learned to ignore it or let it consume you. I chose to prove them wrong. From the start, I was determined to be the best. I was always top of the class, always researching, and always trying to create new spells. By the time I graduated, I was an accredited Charms Mistress, Runes Mistress, and Potions Mistress. James had more than one accreditation as well, but I suspect he’s trying to make up for his early years by being overly modest. He is currently chuckling beside me.

Throughout school, I became slowly disenfranchised with Severus. He had gone to a different house, and fell in with quite a bad crowd, trying to fit in. Slowly, I became worried about him, and soon enough, he started proving me right. In our fifth year, it all came to a head. James and his friends were taunting him, and I helped him like I always had. But something was different that day. Severus was different that day.

He called me a Mudblood.

Harry snarled over the betrayal. This Snape had best hope they did not cross paths.

He regretted it almost immediately, but the damage had been done. My temper had never been what one would call mild –

Here the writing changed back to his father’s more manly writing:

– Unless you consider Habanero mild –

Harry started cackling like a madman at his father’s quip, and Lily rapidly took over once more.

Ignore your father Harry. He is an unmitigated moron who thinks he’s funny. I’m afraid the stupidity is terminal.

He laughed long and hard, even putting the letter down for a moment. How he wished he had gotten more than a year with them.

Now, I had been hearing rumors (and praying that they were untrue) that Severus might have been thinking of joining the Death Eaters. I asked him if he did truly plan on joining, and he didn’t respond. I’m honestly unsure if he knew what he had been getting himself into, but that day cemented it for me. He wasn’t the boy I had grown up with anymore. What his hurtful comment some months past had started, his inability to tell me he wasn’t joining the Death Eaters finished. I parted ways with him at the end of sixth year, and kept him at arm’s length through the writing of this letter.

The next year, I started getting closer to James. I hadn’t meant to, but when I saw him that day on the train, I could tell he was almost dead inside from his parent’s murder, and the loss of his family home. For all that I had hated him, I couldn’t leave him like that. I stayed with him that entire train ride, letting him sob on my shoulder. He needed to know the world wasn’t over. And when days and weeks passed without him reverting to form (that form being a braying jackass), after six years of hating him, I was shocked to learn there was an actual person I could like in there. I was even more shocked to find myself encouraging him and his friends to go do some pranking, though I made sure none of it was mean-spirited like it had been in the past. With the way the world out there looked, I just couldn’t stand Hogwarts being ‘the land of no smiles’ too. Eventually, he asked me out again, and for the first time, I decided to give him a shot. I should have known better, because the lug had me on the hook before the night was even over.

Despite that happiness we had grown for ourselves, I knew that James still wanted to avenge his parents. I had never wanted to fight myself, but seeing James in that state on the train made me realize that all the Dark needed to win was for the good people to do nothing. I realized that these monsters would never leave us in peace. So, we trained. I went to my favorite professor (One Horace Slughorn) and got him to recommend trainers. He was shocked, but I was firm. We needed this, because I wasn’t going to lose James now that we were falling in love. He got us private tutors, and multiple times a week, all of us trained under an accomplished Unspeakable.

When James, Sirius, and I graduated, we were the most talented students that had come out of Hogwarts in decades. We had always been good, but tragedy pushed us to become the best. Remus was excellent too, but his skills were more specialized to Defense Against the Dark Arts. Pettigrew was the only one that didn’t join us, and if you’re reading this letter…perhaps we should have taken that more seriously.

James and I married right out of school, and I was immediately recruited into the Unspeakables. Their training was even more brutal than the Auror training was, if what I’ve been able to compare with James is correct. It was well worth it. James, Sirius, and I had the highest kill and capture counts on our side of the war, outside of Dumbledore and one particularly grizzled Auror Captain. I am not proud of causing those deaths, but after walking into one particular scene which I will not describe here, I will never regret them.

My time was not spent only fighting though. That’s not a way to live. Dueling is fine. It’s fun even… But constantly struggling for your life, where one misstep is the difference between life and death… Anyone sane would go mad after too long. Mad Eye Moody attests to that. The rest of my time in the Unspeakables was spent doing what I loved: researching. The results of that research, I now pass to you.

My darling boy, it pains me to know that one day you may wake up without me there to hold you, to dry your tears, to see you smile… Know that I will always love you, and I will always be there with you, even if I can't be by your side.

In these trunks are everything I can think of to make sure you survive to a ripe old age, surrounded by your loved ones. The trunk you found this letter on has only one compartment. After all, I can hardly guess at what you would do with a second Pensieve. Inside, you will find my memories. I hope you will treasure them.

Inside the purple trunk, I have all of my research. Every theory (proven and unproven) and every spell I’ve created. Some of my research yielded…interesting results. Dangerous results. Results that James made me swear never to try to publish, though that doesn’t mean we never got use out of them. Be careful with it, Harry, and never let anyone you don’t trust unconditionally see it. That particular compartment will only unlock with a drop of your willingly given blood.

The last trunk contains my diaries, as well as all of my personal schoolbooks. You’ll find quite a few of my creations scribbled inside of them. I truly hope you will never need these, and that I will be able to teach you myself, but like your father I will not leave you with nothing should the worst come to pass. Take care of them. They are as indestructible as money can make them, but you will not find replacements for the contents should they be lost.

Live your life Harry. Find love. Start a family. Discover your passions and follow them. Know that we will support you always.

Goodbye, my darling boy,

Lily Potter

Harry let out a shuddering breath as he finished his mother’s letter, and quickly sealed it away. He stared blankly at the mirror on his dresser, glaring at it. His parents were amazing people from what he had read, and they were stolen from the world by those murdering psychopaths.

He knew several of them walked around free, and if they were anywhere near as charming as Walburga Black?

Well, he wouldn’t be hunting anyone down, but if they happened to fall into his claws? He’d consider it long overdue justice.

He raised his arm and pulled out the purple trunk, enlarging it and setting it in front of him. He opened it and watched in interest as more contents than could possibly have fit inside rose out from the trunk. It then unfurled even further, looking almost like a three-sectioned cabinet with six total doors. He opened the middle section, and immediately zeroed in on the drawer his mother had referenced.

Pricking his finger, he poked the drawer, and it opened up. Various spiral-bound notebooks greeted him, as well as some much more professional-looking books. He reached for the books, reasoning that they must be consolidated versions of the notes in the likely messier notebooks. He opened the first one and, within reading a single word, he knew this was going to be good. As he read more and more, a smile erupted on his face.

By the time he finished the ‘chapter,’ he was outright cackling like a madman.

-]|[-

“Wonder what they canceled classes early for.” Hermione Granger asked lightly, though with what had happened over the past few weeks, she probably knew what it was. She was on the shorter side with rich brown hair that once had been an untamable mess, but through potions now looked wavy at best.

“Probably officially starting the tournament, right?” Tracey Davis shrugged, before scratching her head, which just succeeded in making her already messy, flaming red hair look even messier, “Not a good look for them, honestly. All that planning and they couldn’t even get through the bloody Choosing before something went wrong.” She smirked and nudged her sister in all but blood, “Regretting it yet, Daffy?”

“Don’t call me that.” Daphne Greengrass rolled her violet eyes. “And no, I don’t regret entering. I only want to know who the hell fucked up badly enough for a fourth name to shoot out of the Goblet.”

“Language!” Hermione said automatically, which just got an amused chuckle from Tracey.

“Hermione, it’s been four years.” She rolled her eyes, “You know full well our little Daffy has a potty mouth.”

Hermione grumbled, “I’ll get the bar of soap. Don’t tempt me.” The giggling renewed, and Daphne smirked.

“Fucked up, or fucked with?” Padma Patil asked, “The Goblet was obviously tampered with, but why? Who would risk such a thing?”

“Who knows?” Her sister Parvati giggled lightly, “I’m more interested in whatever name was on that slip. The name came out, so they have to compete. And yet Professor Dumbledore didn’t read the name out to anybody. Hell, I would say he almost looked panicked.”

“He did pale quite a bit.” Hermione opened the door on the 4thfloor and started to walk up it as the rest of their clique followed. Within moments, they stepped out of the floor on the 1st floor, right near the Great Hall. “Professor McGonagall didn’t look much better.”

“Well, whatever it is, I hope they sorted it out already.” Daphne said, “I’ll only start to regret entering if they force us to wait for half the year to actually start.”

They all took a seat at one of the tables, the Ravenclaw one specifically, today. Theirs was an odd group to say the least, at least within the confines of the school. None of them cared one whit about the House barriers, and it had gotten their Slytherin members especially a fair bit of flak from their housemates. They had members from every house and multiple years; all of them girls. They’d had male members in the past, but they never lasted in the core group. Too interested in trying to get into their knickers even back when they were firsties. It just threw off the dynamic too much.

They were quickly joined by Susan Bones and Hannah Abbott from Hufflepuff, and then Ginny Weasley and Luna Lovegood slid into their seats. Daphne’s sister Astoria was the last to arrive, and she sat quietly next to the elder Greengrass. “You okay, pixie?” Daphne was immediately concerned.

“Hurts a little.” Astoria winced, shifting uncomfortably. “Morgana’s saggy tits, couldn’t it pick a better day? Or just never?”

All of the girls in their group winced in sympathy. Truthfully, Astoria was the reason that they had such a varied and eclectic group. Ever since their first year, Daphne had become their leader not for her ambition to eventually be Minister and make some real changes to their society, but to give herself the best possible chance to save her precious sister from her Blood Malediction. It was something the two Greengrasses could not even talk about to anyone not in the know. The Curse was that prickly. Instead, they’d had to be oblique, making references and leaving breadcrumbs around as they felt out the best and brightest amongst their peers. Daphne and Tracey had started as soon as possible, branching out first to Hufflepuff and then Ravenclaw for members of their research/study group. All of the girls around them had eventually figured out what the breadcrumbs meant, and upon confronting Daphne about it, had gotten confirmation with that limitation from the curse lifted.

Their group quickly outclassed everyone else in their year group, and between Hermione’s extreme research ability and Daphne’s sheer magical prowess, they had quickly become the most talented group in the entire school. The Goblet of Fire chose her to be Hogwarts’ Champion, rather than one of their older peers. Their main, overarching goal however, still eluded them.

“Do we need to go?” Tracey asked immediately, taking Astoria’s hand gently.

“No.” Astoria shook her inky black hair, “It’s like a three right now at worst. Just annoying.”

“If you’re sure.” Daphne said gently, looking lovingly at the younger girl, “Just let me know if it gets worse.”

Once Astoria settled, Ginny quickly asked what this all was about.

“None of the professors would say, but we can guess.” Daphne replied, tucking her silvery hair behind her ear. Not her natural hair color, but she was a witch. If she didn’t like the color she’d just bloody change it. “And I better be right. It’s been two damned weeks since the Choosing, and none of the professors have told us anything about what the first task will be. The entire tournament has stalled.”

“Looks like it’s showtime.” Hermione mumbled as the headmaster tapped his spoon on the rim of his glass, the sound ringing equally loudly throughout the entire Hall.

They all quieted down as the elderly man stood. “Well, it seems like it’s been a while since we’ve all met like this.” He started by smiling gently, “I’m sure you’re all eager to tuck into your delicious meals, but I’m also sure you all have been feeling impatient regarding news of the [tournament]. We have left you hanging for altogether longer than we anticipated.” The murmuring began, and was quickly quieted. “Now, as I’m sure you are aware… we did not plan to have a fourth name come out of that cup.” There was a smattering of laughs, but it quieted instantly with his next words, “And we especially did not anticipate the name written on it declaring a person who did not even attend one of our illustrious institutions as a Champion.”

“What the bloody hell?!” Ginny and Parvati both whispered incredulously, and they were some of the quieter ones. The Hall erupted in noise from every corner, with students both foreign and domestic talking about what that could mean.

“So, it definitely wasn’t a student.” Hermione said firmly, “I was already pretty sure of that to begin with, but…”

She and all of the other trailed off as Dumbledore gestured for silence, “Yes, it was certainly a confounding situation, but one that presented a surprising opportunity.” He smiled, “So without further ado, allow me to officially begin the tournament once more by reintroducing all of our Champions! From the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic: Fleur Delacour!” There were cheers from everyone, though no small amount of confusion. Fleur stood and curtsied. “From the Durmstrang Institute: Victor Krum!” The cheers were very much louder this time, with the surly international Quidditch star standing and taking a short bow. “From our very own Hogwarts and beating out three years of her older peers: Daphne Greengrass!” Daphne stood and waved with a slightly forced smile, due to the callout of her age compared to the other two. She’d gotten a lot of dirty looks for being selected over her ‘more learned’ peers. All of them were just jealous that of all the students in the school who were eligible to cross Dumbledore’s Age Line, it was a 4th year that was chosen. She quickly sat, wondering why their headmaster had such an uncharacteristic smirk on his face, “And from no school at all…” Incredulity rose up in most of the student body, “Harry Potter!”

There was dead silence for a moment. You could have heard a pin drop in the Hall from how slack-jawed the students looked. Up at the head table, a sallow-skinned man with lanky, greasy hair looked like he had swallowed a rotten lemon. And then pandemonium erupted as even the foreigners had heard of that name. Conversations in a multitude of different languages erupted from all corners.

“Harry Potter?!” Daphne asked in shock, “He’s alive?!”

“Forget alive, he’s real?!” Ginny yelped, “I’m going to murder Fred and George! When he never showed up for his first year here, they convinced me he was just a fairy tale that parents made up to explain You-Know-Who’s defeat!” This got some laughs from her friends, which made her blush brightly.

“I did warn you they were messing with you, Gin.” Luna, her best friend, nudged her with a smile, “My, the Wrackspurts seem to be out in force tonight.”

Dumbledore allowed the conversations to continue for a few moments, before gesturing for silence again, “Yes, I’m sure you’re all excited that Mr. Potter was found and will be here shortly. I must warn you not to crowd him nor bombard him with questions, and do not call him ‘The Boy Who Lived,’ as he gets rather annoyed by it. Madam Pomfrey will be rather inundated with students turned into newts if you do.” He said dryly, getting another smattering of laughs from students who did not understand that he was being entirely serious and rather overly optimistic. “Now, as I’m sure most of you are aware, Mr. Potter should have been a student here, so it’s not unlikely that some of our friends from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang may be thinking that it’s a cheat. That Hogwarts is getting two bites at the pie, as it were.” There were some unhappy faces in the crowd, “Let me assure you that is not the case. Mr. Potter will not be a student here, though he will be free to sit in classes if he desires. He will also not be returning once the Tournament concludes, nor does he plan on joining any other academy of magic.” It pained him to say that, though he knew it was the case, and probably for the best too.

“Why the bloody hell not?!” A voice yelled out, and laughs rang out again as a blushing Ron Weasley ducked his head.

Dumbledore chuckled, “That, I’m afraid, is something you’ll have to discover for yourselves, if you’re brave enough, Mr. Weasley.” He chuckled some more, “And of course, you’re free to try to change his mind, though I rather doubt it.” Murmurs of interest met his words, with plenty of students disregarding his warnings and planning on trying to get close to the Boy Who Lived. “Mr. Potter will not be arriving yet, so for now, let’s…” he trailed off.

The students closest to the exact middle of the Great Hall had jumped as a loud crackle rang through the air. They turned, and what appeared to be a tiny bit of lightning had appeared between the two middle tables.

Minerva rolled her eyes with a mumbled, ‘Here we go…’ as the students erupted into whispers, with those closest to the electricity edging away from it.

And then the electricity was replaced with a rapidly widening, gaping chasm in the air that had the closest screaming in fear. The hole was surrounded by black and purple clouds. Eyes bulged out of their heads as Harry strode out, clad again in his apparently signature blue jeans and tight shirt, a Disturbed one this time, which was easily showing off his impressive musculature and hints of his ink. He had his hands in his pockets, looking entirely unconcerned as he casually subverted some of the best Wards in existence. The portal closed behind him, revealing him in full to the entire Great Hall.

A Muggleborn whisper-screamed, “HE HAS THE SPACE STONE?!” Which almost made him break into cackles.

Ginny, Parvati, and Tracey among their group whimpered as they took him in, and they weren’t the only ones. Most people in the hall were gawking at him for one reason or the other, though he was looking around in return and taking them in. “Oh no, he’s hot.” Tracey whispered, a thought mirrored by the thirstier girls around them.

“Are those tattoos?!” Hermione hissed, taking the Wizarding World’s missing hero in.

“They look like Runes.” Luna said softly, her visage looking unusually focused.

“As tattoos?” Padma furrowed her brow, “For what purpose?” Any further commenting was interrupted as Harry got closer to the head table.

“Harry!” Albus said jovially, hiding a wee bit of irritation, “It appears I was mistaken. We weren’t expecting you yet!”

“Albus.” Harry smirked lightly as he strode to the head table, “Well, Sirius and Tonksy were doing such a good job gassing up the feasts in this place that I just had to give it a go for myself.”

“They’re on a first name basis?” The hisses came from around the Hall.

“Gassing them up?” The purebloods in the room looked incredibly weirded out by the term.

“Well, we welcome you nonetheless.” Albus said, “Please, find a seat! I’m sure your peers are eager to meet you.”

“Yes, I’m quite eager to meet my fellow Champions.” He sounded amused for reasons almost none of them knew. “I’d be quite happy to sit with them to break the ice, as it were. This is all about, ah… what was it… ‘International Cooperation,’ I believe?”

“A marvelous idea!” Albus exclaimed, “If, of course, our Champions are all agreeable?” His answer was all three of them standing with varying degrees of eagerness over their faces, with Daphne’s friends wishing her luck. “Excellent! Perhaps a Champion table is in order?”

“Yeah, it’s a little crowded for me.” Harry smirked as he turned to face the Hall, “Allow me.” With his middle, pointer, and thumb pointing outwards on both hands, Harry raised his arms and then spread them as though parting a veil. Immediately, the already large room they sat in enlarged even more, with the room getting bigger and the tables spreading out more. Albus sat back and enjoyed the show, feeling without looking that the corresponding room in the kitchens had also enlarged with the same action. It was marvelous seeing such a talented student of magic, even if he would never be Hogwarts’ student. Once a sufficiently large space had grown, Harry swirled his pointer finger, with a small typhoon of liquid stone rising up in the middle of the room. The stone rapidly shaped itself and then transformed into a rich mahogany table, matching the other long tables all around. Chairs quickly joined them, and Harry then conjured plates with a snap of his fingers. A second snap linked the table and plates to an exact replica in the kitchens with the same spells he sensed on the main tables. “Shall we?” He waved his hand at the table, and the very impressed Champions made their way quickly to the new table.

Behind him, Severus Snape seethed.

-]|[-

Welp, here we are.

Life.

For this.

I still don’t understand what happened. I feel like I’m in the Twilight Zone over this revival.

So, as ya’ll can probably tell, this is going to end up being even more insanely over the top than the original Inferno. We got more info on how big Smaug was in Desolation since I originally wrote this, and that new info was “twice as big as a Boeing 747.” That’s 130-152m in length as an estimate. Good Lord.

I decided that the original format of this story just didn’t fit. In the original, he was just going to school with everyone else, which really just didn’t fit in this new envisioning. Not only was the majority of that going to be a snooze-fest outside of some minor (Or rather, short) incidents (such as the basilisk), but I just quite frankly didn’t want to write about kids. That’s why I aged everyone up. Magical schooling starts at 14, making Harry and what would have been his class now 18.

Harry represents an Outside-Context Problem for basically everyone around him. He created his own forms of magic through trial and error (lots and lots of error, which would have killed a normal person, but he could tank because of his draconic power and resistance.) and just generally looking at books that contained the words “impossible” and telling them to go fuck themselves.

Now, there are definitely some differences from canon beyond Harry’s storyline. Some things will be elaborated on in-story, but some won’t as there’s no reason to, so I’ll list them if needed. For example: the Chamber of Secrets just straight up didn’t happen because Lucius wasn’t stupid enough to risk something entrusted to him by his master for safekeeping.

Oh, and quite obviously, there’s some anachronism stew going on in here. I don’t want to keep having to remember what 1996 was like culture-wise, and quite obviously, the Desolation of Smaug wasn’t out back then either. Don’t be surprised with modern references because there will be plenty of them.