Chapter 3

The Dursleys were proud to call themselves a normal family. They had everything a decent family would ever need; a big house they were happy to call home. A decent source of income that took care of all their needs. A respectable neighborhood that had access to good education and job opportunities.

Really, there wasn't anything more a family could ask for.

So when those freaks had come with an ickle baby crying in their hands, they'd took him in like a decent family should (They may have rejected the other babies, but even their kindness could only take so much freakishness at once). They fed him, clothed him, treated him like one of their own in the hopes that he would grow up to be decent.

And he had.

For the first 11 years of his life, Harry Potter had been well liked in their neighborhood for being a decent lad. Very smart, though quite shy, the boy had increased the Dursley residency's reputation and had often covered up for his...less impressive cousin.

Which was why Vernon Dursley had once been proud to call the boy his own. Not that he didn't have his own moments of freakishness of course, but Vernon chose to ignore it due to his glowing reputation in the neighborhood.

Plus, he couldn't really blame the boy for something he was cursed to be born with now, could he? No, he blamed the boy's parents for that, drunken useless louts that they were, he wasn't surprised to know they'd abandoned their own children. Cruel sadistic lot, these wizards were. And he was glad to have raised the boy the way he had.

But then that blasted letter had come, shattering all their well crafted dreams and plans for the boy. Vernon often wondered how the life could've been now, had those bloody freaks just forgotten about Harry.

But no. Of course not. Those freaks just couldn't leave them alone. So obviously, they'd taken the boy and made his life a living hell. Each year he came back with a new injury, getting a new scar as his life came close to ending. First it was some bloody ghost that cause him to be hospitalized. Then there was a blasted snake that terrorized the poor boy. Then those...those freakish prison ghosts... really the boy just didn't seem to get a break.

And Vernon Dursley has had enough now. He wasn't going to stand for it anymore. If this went on, the boy would surely die before Vernon's plans even began.

"This is the fourth time now!" He bellowed, face purple with rage. "Fourth time in a row that the boy's been harmed in some way!"

The freakish woman in front of him took his complaints in silence, simply pursing her lips as they stood over the unconscious boy.

Some would've found the woman to be unnaturally beautiful, but Vernon knew better. What hid behind their pretty faces was ugly freakishness.

"Look at him! Bleeding like a butchered pig! He isn't going to make it past this year if this keeps up! And I'm not gonna let that happen, if I have any say in this. The boy is better here, atleast he wouldn't risk getting killed every year!"

It was perhaps a little unfair of Vernon Dursley to put the blame on wizards this time, but he couldn't see any other way for it to happen. What 14 year old sleeps soundly one day, only to wake up screaming like a wet cat the next, blood flooding his mouth and nose.

No, Vernon knew it has to be the freaks. His freakish magic is probably what's caused the boy to almost die. Again.

"Mr. Dursley, believe it or not, I care about Harry more than anything, but forcing him to stay is just going to make things worse." The woman finally broke her silence, her freakish eyes pining Vernon in his place.

Silken purple in colour, the eyes looked at him like he was a bug. But Vernon didn't dare say anything. He may not be a bright one, but even he could see the cruel dark gleam behind those freakish purple eyes, daring him to try anything.

Finally he averted his face, acknowledging her point with a grunt. Not like they hadn't tried their best to convince the boy away from these freaks. But if there was one thing that Vernon didn't like about the boy, it was his decision to constantly go looking for these freaks even when it may cost him his life.

Perhaps it was time for a more... stricter approach. They'd let the boy fool around with those freaks for too long. Words just weren't enough any longer, it seems he'll have to beat some sense inside him.

It was for his own good anyway.

"Please, Miss Black." Pet broke the tension. "What happened to Harry now?"

His wife was more much patient when it came to these people than Vernon could ever hope to be. It was better to let her handle the talkings.

The crazy freak sighed. "I cannot say, yet. I will have to take Harry with me for the rest of the summer I'm afraid."

Vernon opened his mouth, absolutely outraged. But an elbow from his wife took away all his wind.

"That is for the best. Our doctors usually don't know how to treat these...magical injuries." Pet finished with a disgusted sniff.

"Thank you, Miss Dursley." The woman gave a tiny brittle smile. "My elf will take care of his things. I hope you have a good day."

She then waved her freakish stick over the boy and his body arose in the air. Vernon could only gape in astonishment as the woman tightly clutched onto Harry and then vanished from their sight with a loud crack that rattled their windows.

Bloody freaks.

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Bellatrix Black stared down at the sleeping form of her godson with a frown. She'd just finished cleaning him up after doing a quick diagnosis to check his injuries.

The boy wasn't in any life-threatening danger, but he'd lost quite a bit of blood. Nothing a blood-replenishing potion hadn't already fixed, but it was the principality of the matter.

He should never have been in any danger in the first place. Especially not in that muggle neighborhood.

And yet, again and again the boy seemed to get in endless number of troubles that drove her spare.

'Perhaps the Potter twins really had a particular affinity for danger', Bellatrix mused. That would explain quite a few things that happened over the past few years.

A sudden groan gained her attention, and she looked down to see the boy slowly rubbing his eyes.

She quickly came to sit beside him on the bed, relieved to see the boy waking.

"...Bloody hell." Harry muttered. "...Did I get hit by a fucking truck?"

Bellatrix jerked back in surprise. Where on earth did the boy learn such...colourful language? When did he even have the time? He'd only been in that muggle neighborhood for 5 days since she last saw him!

'No, that isn't important currently. Focus, Bella.'

"How are you feeling, Harry?" She asked softly, not wanting to startle the boy.

Finally his eyes opened and he squinted at her slowly. As if the gears in his mind shifted, the boy suddenly flinched away from her, his hands searching around his body as sheer rage and hatred danced in his eyes.

'He's looking for his wand.' A part of her mind supplied, even as she stood up and off the bed to give him some space.

"Easy there, Harry. It's me, Aunt Bella."

The boy calmed down just as suddenly as the rage had come. He took a few deep breaths, his face scrunching up in a frown.

Finally he nodded. "Uh, Yeah. Sorry about that, I just had a very...bad dream."

There was still a tense stiffness in his words though, Bella realised. An undercurrent of anger that he couldn't quite hide.

Bella tried to think of anything she might have done to earn the boy's ire, but came up short. Their relationship hadn't started well when the boy refused to be around anyone related to the 'Potters', but she genuinely felt that they'd bonded quite well over his patronus lessons the last year.

Perhaps she was looking into it too much. It may just be some mysterious puberty-stricken ailment that was past her understanding. The mind of a teenager was a very confusing place.

"Harry," She started cautiously, testing the waters. "What happened?"

"Nothing, of course." The boy answered, not looking at her.

"Uh huh, so you don't mind telling me why you were on the floor, bleeding through your orifices?"

"I do mind, though!" The boy answered cheekily.

"Harry." She warned.

"Oh, alright alright, I give." Harry took a deep breath. "I was practicing occlumency."

Bellatrix blinked. "And that caused you to look like a torture victim?"

"Well...it was probably a side effect of breaking through to next level." The boy stated musingly.

It took her mind a moment to register the news.

"Really?" She asked, sceptical.

The boy usually wasn't one to lie, but she still found herself doubting him.

Occlumency was one of the hardest streams of magic to master, each level growing in difficult as one progressed. A lvl 3 Occlumens could consider his mind to be a very safe place. Most ancient lords and ladies never progressed past lvl 3, mainly because it was enough to stop most of the legilimency attacks. She could count on two hands the no. of people that could potentially break inside a lvl 3 Occlumen's mind.

For a 14 year old to reach this level, even someone as prodigal as Harry, was...well, not unheard of, but surely a most shocking achievement.

"Yep." The boy replied candidly with a popped 'P'. "You can even test me if you want."

She hummed. "I just might. But not now. Come, you need to get some solid food in your body. Potions are no replacement for nutritions."

"I'll be there in a sec."

"Oh, by the way." She turned back. "Your wand's on the table."

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Harry Potter breathed a sigh of relief as the woman finally left him alone, closing the doors behind her. He quickly leaned over to pick up his wand, taking comfort in the warmth that spread through him. He really didn't want to get caught with his pants down by any potential enemy. Which could, Frankly speaking, be anyone on this new world.

Currently, he was a complete mess from the inside. His emotions were a jumbled ball of strings, and his mind was still sorting through the two lives that he'd lived.

He still felt himself to be the older Harry more than the younger one. The memories of his younger self were there, but they were burried under his own life. Those memories will come to him if he tried to think about it, but it took a moment to completely remember them.

But once they did, Harry got a mixed feeling for most of the things. His younger self had a different view of life, and they both seemed to disagree quite a lot.

Bellatrix herself for instance, was a massive topic of controversy. Atleast for his mind. The younger part had a big crush on the admittedly beautiful woman (he wondered how that happened), while he himself wanted nothing more than to tear her apart limb from limb.

Really, on what world could he have ever imagined that Bellatrix Lestrange, or Black he supposed now, would be his godmother? This world apparently.

Then there was also the case of Sirius Black, who was still imprisoned for being a loyal death-eater and betraying the potters. Even though his parents were alive and well (and wasn't that a surprise), they still haven't lifted a finger to help their friend.

Which meant that either Sirius really was a death-eater...or his parents were being duped.

And considering how alien this world was, both were a possibility.

The potter family was another bundle of troubles that he didn't want to touch right now. The way his younger self had been acting towards them for the past few years was simply disgusting. After occluding away all the bitter hatred that a part of him had cultivated for his parents, Harry was able to judge the family fairly.

And his verdict? Slytherin Harry was a Vindictive and easily manipulated guy. A naive little shit that could hold grudges for the longest of times, and believed everything the Dursleys told him.

It made him physically ill as he reviewed all the memories revolving around his family. His younger self had been too immature back then, making no effort to understand why exactly his parents may have left him in the care of someone else. Just blindly hating the family for 'abandoning him'.

He didn't care for the fact that they'd been rotting in St. Mungo's, suffering from cruciatus after-effects. He didn't care that he was the only one Dursleys were willing to keep, forcing all of his other siblings to be divided between different families. He didn't care that his parents had tried to come for him as soon as they were out of St. Mungo's, even whilst still suffering from the effects of torture curse.

No, he only cared for the fact that his siblings grew up with magical families, which somehow meant he was the abandoned one. He only cared that his twin was The-Boy-Who-Lived, which obviously meant he recieved special privileges.

Then again, he wasn't really to blame completely. Petunia, the venomous bitch that she was, filled the boy's brain with lies, hoping to divide the mother and son.

Whatever. He had plenty of time to fix stuff later. That is, if he actually wanted to bother with all this family nonsense.

Honestly? He didn't know how he felt about having a family now. The stark jump from being all alone and on a point of suicide to this...bright and colourful life full of people who cared about him was...a bit of an headache really. A good thing he had occlumency at his side.

The only thing he can truthfully do right now was wait. Wait and gather as much information as possible.

Because one thing was certain, this world was much more messed up than his original one. And he needed to get ready for anything.

Even the dark lord Grindelwald who was currently dominating the Americas.

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Jacob Potter quickly swished his wand above him, tracing a cursive 'L' in the air. "Leviosa!"

The wooden chair a dozen feets away from him shot up to the air.

"Well done, Jakey!" His tutor cheered with a wide smile. "After over a year, you can finally make objects fly!"

"Oh shut up, Dora." Jake muttered, annoyed.

He had been training to reduce his spell chants and movements in hopes of increasing his casting speed. Unfortunately, it had taken over a year to finally gain any success in it.

Of course, his cousin/Tutor didn't miss this chance to needle him.

"But really, you should be proud you know?" Dora continue casually as she plopped herself on a nearby sofa. "This is advanced level 3 technique in Dueling. I doubt any of your peers can manage it."

That was true, Jake had to admit. The only ones in his class who could give him any challenge were Susan, Neville, Daphne, Draco, and Padma. And even then, he wasn't really worried about them. His classmates weren't his true competitors afterall.

"But Cedric can do it, can't he?" He asked, hoping to sound not as jealous as he felt.

"Of course! He's a level 4 duelist. I'm pretty sure he can do silent casting."

Jacob grimaced.

'Of course he can. Stupid Good-At-Everything pretty boy.'

"Aww, is jakey a wee bit jealous?" Dora snickered from the side. "What happened? Did Diggory take your girl or something?"

Jake sighed, despondent. "Nah. More like the girl wouldn't even see me, with him around."

"Ooh, that's bad." His cousin winced. "What's her name?"

He looked ar her, wondering if she just wanted to tease him, before shaking his head. This was Dora, his sister in all but blood. He could trust her. "Her name is Cho. Cho Chang."

Dora hummed. "I remember her. She's that asian girl one year above you, right?"

"Yeah." Jake sighed. "And a bloody fine duelist too."

"Language, Jakey." Dora admonished absently, looking thoughtful. "Well...I guess if they're already dating then you have no chance."

"Gee, thanks for the support, Tonksie." Jake muttered irritatedly. "I wasn't actually thin–"

"But," She cut him off. "If she isn't dating, then you might have a shot. You're a quidditch star, something she'll appreciate, no doubt. Then you are good in academics, best dueller in your year, and not bad looking either. I'd give you 50-50 chance of scoring with her."

"50-50 huh?" He asked wearily. "But being 'not bad looking' is not gonna work against Cedric. The guy looks like someone straight out of a magazine."

Dora laughed aloud. "True that. But looks aren't everything, you know? Or else your twin would've been swamped down by girls every moment."

Jacob grimaced at that. Harry was a touchy subject in the Potter family, and Jake especially didn't like talking about him.

"Anyway, I'm sure you'll manage to get your chick, just stay patient and stuff. " She said, getting up from the sofa and stretching.

Jacob averted his eyes as her...impressive figure tightened against her clothes.

"I gotta go now, Auror examination starts in an hour." She continued. "See ya later, Nerd."

"Yeah." He half-heartedly waved, still not looking at her. "Bye."

Dora was a sister to him, having spend most of their childhood together, and he really didn't like thinking about her that way. Even if it did make him...excitable.

"Jake!" His mother's yell broke him out of his conundrum.

"Coming, Mom!" He replied, putting his wand back in the holster as he made for Lily.

He found his mother in the main hall, hurrying towards the fireplace urgently.

"Jake I'm going to the black manor right now, will you please make your sisters eat their food?" She rattled out quickly. "They'll be back from the Weasley's in a few minutes, and I want you to stay in the house till then, alright?"

"Yeah, mom. Sure." Jake replied quickly as his mother fisted a handful of floo powder. "What's the hurry though?"

"Harry's hurt." She blurted out, looking stressed. "Bella brought him back to her Manor. I don't know anything yet, but I won't be long. Tell your father not to come though. You know how Harry gets in his presence."

"Uhh, yeah. 'Kay."

Without saying anything further, she threw the powder down and yelled, "Black Manor!"

The next moment she was hidden behind a blanket of green flames before disappearing completely.

"'Won't be long', my arse." Jake grouched. "Does she seriously believe that?"

He shook his head irritatedly. Now he was stuck waiting for his stupid sisters. There wasn't any need to imagine how his day was gonna end when left alone with Andrea and Rose.

And there was no freakin way Lily was gonna be back under an hour. When it came to Harry, she always took her sweet time.

"That's mean." Jake sighed. "Didn't I promise not to be jealous of him?"

But it was hard not to be. Not only was his twin the better looking and more talented of them two (even if he was a complete stinker in quidditch and Dueling), he was also a darling little boy in the eyes of their parents. No matter how rude Harry acted towards them, James and Lily always defended him like it was never his fault

Worse, his brother hated him with a passion.

Jacob often wondered how life would've been, had his twin grew up with him in the Tonks family. Would he have still hated Jake for being the 'Favoured one', or would he have understood?

A shame that he'll never know.

He'd done his best to patch up their relationship over the past few years. The first year hadn't been great, sure. But Jacob had been immature back then– Jealous of the attention his parents gave to this new boy who didn't even like them. Harry didn't make it easy either. He was rude, hostile, and always taunting or bad mouthing the Potters.

But he'd come to understand Harry's side of things quite well over the past few years. He could only imagine how painful it must've been, to know that your family abandoned you. Even if it had been, as Lily informed him, completely out of their hands.

And so he'd genuinely tried to make peace with his twin. Only, Harry had absolutely no intention of doing the same.

"Maybe he'll change this year..." Jacob muttered as he slid down the chair in front of the hearth. "Probably not."