The Legacy of Merlin

"Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Potter," the medi-witch said as she handed them their daughter. "It's a girl."

"Not just any girl, her name is Gloria," Lily said happily. "She is going to be the savior of the wizarding world."

"There was a prophecy about it," James explained.

"Trelawny predicted that our second child would be the one to finally defeat he-who-must-not-be-named."

Six years later…

"Harry, how many times have I told you," shouted an angry Lily Potter. "You are not to touch your sister's things." She said to the seven-year-old Harry.

"It isn't even hers," Harry protested. "You gave it to me for Christmas last year."

"Why am I even arguing with you?" Lily said angrily, as she ripped the teddy bear out of Harry's hands and gave it to Glory, then stormed off.

"See," Glory said with a smirk. "I always get what I want because I am a hero, I'm going to save the entire world." Glory said that proudly. "You're just plain, stupid, Harry."

"I never said that they wouldn't give it to you," Harry sighed sadly. "It was just important to me."

"Well then," Glory said with a sneer. "This should make it more fun," she said as she cruelly twisted off the teddy bear's head and walked off laughing.

One year later…

"What the hell did you think you were doing?" James asked as he roughly pulled Harry into the house.

"I'm sorry sir, I tried to get there in time," answered a frightened Harry.

"Your sister could have been seriously hurt. How can we expect Glory to save the world if her brother can't help her when she needs it," James roared.

"The ghoul hit me more than Glory, most of the blood on Glory is mine," Harry said as he tried to defend himself.

He hoped that this time they would believe him, the last time they had waited so long to call the healer he had got an infection and a fever.

"You think you can talk your way out of this?" James asked in a quiet calm that betrayed his anger.

"It was an accident, I tried to help," Harry said desperately.

James reached out quicker than Harry could react, and gave Harry a hard slap to the face which sent the young boy sprawling.

"Get down to the cellar, and I don't want to even hear about you coming out for a week." James said as he turned his back on the boy.

Three years later…

"That's the mail," Glory said excitedly. "I wonder if I got any fan mail, mom."

"I wouldn't be surprised," James said as he sat down for breakfast smiling.

"Don't keep your sister waiting." Lily said with a scowl. "Go get the mail."

"Yes mother," Harry said as he finished making breakfast. The Potter house elf Dobbin had died recently and Glory had the idea of making Harry do all the housework until they got a new one.

Harry returned quickly with the mail. He knew what would happen to him if he took too long. He first handed a stack of letters to glory, the others were mostly bills, which he handed to his father, but something caught his eye. On the last letter there was a seal he had never seen before, and the letter was addressed to him.

"What's that?" Glory asked as she pointed to the letter in Harry's hands.

"I am not sure," Harry said. "I think it's a mistake. Why would anyone want to write to me?"

"Let me see that," James said as he yanked the letter out of Harry's hands. "I don't believe it," he said in shock. "All this time I was sure you would turn out to be a squib."

"What is the letter about?" Harry asked, now curious because the letter was actually addressed to him.

"It's a letter to go to Hogwarts, School for witchcraft and wizardry," Lily said offhandedly. "I suppose we should be getting your school supplies," she said in a bored voice.

"What!?" Glory demanded indignantly. "Why does HE get to go to Hogwarts before me? I'm the saviour, not him!"

"Oh James, that's a good point," Lily agreed. "What will people think if they see him first? He'll make a bad impression like he always does. It could make Glory look bad."

"I understand Lily, Glory," James sighed, "but we don't really have a choice. The ministry will come calling when they find out the son of a noble house doesn't attend Hogwarts."

Harry held back his smile, he couldn't let them see him react, but he was thrilled, he finally had a way out. He just had to graduate Hogwarts and he could leave. He would never have to see his 'family again.'

~***~

Harry sat in his room, he had been waiting for that letter as long as he could remember. He couldn't wait, 10 months out of the year he would be away from Potter Manor.

The school 'supplies' his parents got him were not what he had hoped for though.

The books were his father's, so they were at least 30 years old, and if that wasn't bad enough they were not well taken care of. The books were ripped and dogeared, and some of the covers were torn off as well.

Harry hoped the curriculum hadn't changed too much over the years, or he might be in serious trouble.

The less said about his 'new' wand the better. He could tell, just by looking at it, that it was old, very old. When he held it in his hand it felt empty, for lack of a better word. It felt like the core had just faded or decayed over time.

The school robes were worn and faded as well, most likely his father's old robes.

The trunk was old, but far higher quality than he had expected. It was larger on the inside and also included a tent for camping. There was a shrinking charm built into it as well.

Harry was convinced the only reason he was given it instead of his mother's old trunk was the thick layers of dirt and grime that covered it when they found it in the attic, after a quick clean however it looked brand new.

Harry had been reading the books in the Potter library for years as well, and memorised the names of as many spells as he could.

He hoped his foresight would help to make up the setback that the outdated school books would undoubtedly cause.

Surprisingly the library also contained a lot of muggle books about science and history as well. They were not up to date anymore, the most recent book being about fifteen years old.

His father hadn't really done anything to keep the library up to date after his parents had passed, preferring to spend much of his free time on the Quidditch pitch.

That was when Harry started making plans. After he finished Hogwarts he knew that he would be on his own. His best chance for a good life was to leave the wizarding world and try to build a life for himself in the muggle world.

He hoped that he could make friends with a few muggle born at Hogwarts so that he had a better idea of what to expect.

Harry was interrupted from his thoughts when an angry Lily Potter stormed into his bedroom, practically smashing his bedroom door open.

"Well? What do you have to say for yourself?!" Lily demanded.

Harry, caught off guard, didn't know how to respond. "What? What's going on?"

"What. Did. You. Do. To. Glory's ROOM?!!" Lily demanded angrily, ending in a scream.

Harry inwardly cringed as he began to understand what happened.

It was, after all, one of Glory's favourite things to do. She smashed or destroyed something while she was having one of her fits, and then blamed him for it. It wasn't a particularly clever plan, but Lily and James never questioned her, and they always believed her over him.

"I…" Harry began, trying once again to explain, before he was interrupted by Lily.

"See!" Lily crowed. "He admitted it!"

Before Harry knew what was happening he was smacked in the face by an angry James that had stormed in during his mother's tirade, sending him tumbling to the ground.

Harry clutched his face, as he stumbled to his feet, trying to get his bearings.

"I want you out of this house," James hissed.

Harry made a quick retreat, not even attempting to take anything with him. As he ran down the hallway he couldn't help but stare in shock at Glory's room.

She had truly outdone herself this time. Literally everything was smashed, even the windows and parts of the wall.

Harry made his way to the front door as he heard his 'family' stomping towards him.

Harry opened the door, getting outside, trying to put more distance between him and his 'father.'

They all knew what had happened. They all knew what Glory had done, but none of them would speak the words out loud.

"You are no son of mine, do you hear me!?" James shouted.

Harry didn't say anything. What would have been the point? He quickly made a dash to the forest that surrounded Potter Manor, hoping they wouldn't chase after him.

When Harry made it to the cover of the trees he let out a sigh of relief, they didn't follow after him.

His 'family' didn't realise that he had his trunk in his pocket when they chased him out of the house.

Not only did it contain all his school supplies, but it had been loaded up with as much food from the Potter Manor kitchens as he could take without them noticing.

Harry could see the writing on the wall for days. Glory was not as clever as she pretended to be. He didn't know exactly what she was going to do or when, but the way she acted the last few days, he knew it was going to be bad.

This wasn't even the first time he was thrown out of the house, but he vowed to himself that it would be the last.

He would go to Hogwarts, graduate, get a job, make some money, and then find some place no one had ever heard of the Potter name and go there.

It was a few hours later and Harry had walked into the forest further than he had ever been before.

He knew that he was well past the Potter lands by now.

He had hoped that he would see a road that he could at least follow into a town by now, but he was slowly coming to the realisation that he was lost.

Harry angrily kicked a log and sat down on the ground in frustration.

It had all seemed so simple when he left. He would find his way into town, make his way to the leaky cauldron and spend the rest of the summer before September there.

As soon as Harry knew what a galleon was he scrounged around Potter manor for every one he could find. That along with the food in his trunk was supposed to get him through until he reached Hogwarts, but he would be lucky at this point just to get out of the damn forrest.

He was so sure there would at least be a stream that he could follow to civilization, but there was nothing here other than trees and the occasional large rock.

Harry pushed his way through a large thicket of trees and straight into a small lake.

He growled in frustration as he looked down at his feet. Now not only was he lost but his feet were soaked and covered in mud.

As Harry looked out at the lake it seemed oddly familiar, even though he was positive that he had never seen it before.

That's when his head started spinning and he started feeling dizzy.

Harry crumpled backwards, landing with a thud on the ground.

That was when the pain started. Harry clutched his head screaming. It felt like rusty claws were digging into his brain while it was on fire.

He had no idea how long he lay there screaming. It felt like hours, days, years were all passing him by, and he could concentrate on nothing else except the pain.

Finally, mercifully Harry passed out.

~*****~

Harry woke up with a splitting headache and immediately shielded his eyes from the sun.

He must have been passed out for at least a couple of hours because it was now early evening.

He tried to remember what happened to him, only to stop immediately as the headache immediately got worse.

Harry groaned as he slowly got to his feet, nothing like this had ever happened to him before.

It felt like his brain was lit on fire. His first thought was to see a healer, but he knew the meagre amount of galleons he had was nowhere near enough.

All he could do was wait until he got to Hogwarts and hope that it wouldn't get worse.

Harry trudged around the lake, eventually finding a footpath to follow.

It was dark by the time he reached a small town, but he was finally out of the forest.

Harry knew that he didn't have the muggle money for a motel so he would have to camp out for the night.

He set up the tent that he found in the trunk, and feeling both mentally and physically exhausted, fell asleep almost immediately.