Chapter 36

[T/N: WHOA!! NEW WEEK! Only 7 chapters left now!]

Despite all the new obligations he had imposed on himself, Harry found himself enjoying his day-to-day life at Hogwarts. His studies were going well, his classes, although considerably more complicated than usual, were relatively easy thanks to his almost instinctive understanding of magic.

There had been times when he'd been frightened by how easily the knowledge of his magic came to him, how he could learn so easily, and even by his many nearly extinct abilities. Being told that he was a mage had put many of his fears to rest... despite his strength and abilities, many of these would become dormant by the time he reached his magical maturity, between the ages of 23 and 35. To anyone else, that would be a bummer, but to him, it was a relief.

[T/N: LOSER!]

Little by little, and thanks to his friends and his mentor, he had been living his school life and his 'superhero' life without anyone noticing anything strange. A real stroke of luck, Merlin knew what would happen if anyone found out.

So, almost without realizing it, they were already in the Easter holidays and Harry had already caught up with his seventh year classmates and now he was going to take the remaining months of the term much more calmly. For the first time he was really going to relax in his studies and even with his preparation in the apprenticeship to Professor Snape he had much more leisure time than he had enjoyed in years.

Although everything was going according to his usual routine, this was broken a week before the holidays when a letter from his parents arrived during breakfast. He carefully picked up the letter and opened it with no small amount of suspicion, everyone knew that the correspondence between his parents and him was non-existent.

'Dear Harry,

How are you? Everything is fine here at home, in any case, the house is very empty without you and your brother.

I know you usually prefer to spend the Easter holidays with your friends at school, but I would like to ask you if you could come home this year.

I'm sure you're wondering why we're asking you when we've never done it before, but we miss you so much, think about it, okay?

A hug

Mother'

[T/N: B*TCH PLEASE!]

The boy looked at the letter, almost as if it would bite him. Since when did his parents write to him? Or did they want him to spend the holidays with them? Or best of all. Since when did they treat him like that?

His face must have looked strange because the next thing he knew, his friends and classmates were looking at him with concern and asking what was wrong.

"My parents have written to me."

"What do they want?"

"They want me to spend the holidays with them."

"What?" Was the general reaction of those present.

"And they talk to me as if there were some kind of relationship with me. To date, the only relationship we have had has been comparing me to Brian or blaming me for any misfortune that might have happened to him."

"What are you going to do?" Athenea asked, looking at him worriedly "Are you going?"

"I don't know. It's so sudden. I have to think about it, I have time."

From the incredulous looks he was receiving from the Gryffindor table, he assumed that his parents had told his brother the same thing along with the information that he must have been invited as well.

Over the next few days, Harry wondered if perhaps his parents had been cursed in some way, otherwise he would not be able to understand what had happened. Finally, just three days before the holidays began, he wrote to them accepting their invitation.

"Are you sure you want to do this? " Draco asked worriedly "Holidays with them aren't usually very pleasant."

"Don't worry, everything will be fine."

"Okay, but promise us that if you see that things are going badly, you will let us know and come to any of our houses." Said Fred " You will be welcome in any of them and it will surely be a better vacation than at your house."

"Okay, I promise. Happy?"

"Very!" They all said in unison.

On the day of the start of the holidays, Harry found himself back on the Hogwarts Express on his way home. He was happily talking to his friends about various things while holding a potions book on his lap, not thinking much about what awaited him at home when the train arrived at his destination, although he couldn't help it for long.

[T/N: stupid, STUPID!]

Before they knew it, the train arrived in London where several guards were waiting to let the boys out little by little. Outside the magical platform, various parents were waiting, anxious to find their children after several months without seeing them.

Harry watched as his friends met up with their parents, who welcomed them with joy, and after a quick farewell, he headed to where his own parents were waiting for him.

"Harry!"

That was the only warning the teenager had, before he found himself wrapped in a strong hug from his mother, causing him to tense up immediately. His mother had never hugged him. Never.

[T/N: YES, be suspicious!]

Despite his obvious discomfort, his mother held him in her arms for a few more seconds before releasing him. She then looked at him for a few moments with a smile on her lips and a strange expression in her eyes.

"Look at him, James, he's so old..."

"In no time at all, he'll have to push the girls aside as he goes" His father laughed as he gave him an affectionate slap on the back "Well, there's Brian, we can go now."

[T/N: Fake ass B*tch!]

Harry, for his part, looked at his parents with an expression that clearly 'Who are you and what have you done to my parents?' Of course, neither of the two adults took notice, on the contrary, destabilizing not only the older brother, but also the younger one.

Ignoring their children's expressions, they both made their way to the station parking lot where the family car was. A car that would only take them as far as the Leaky Cauldron and then shrink down to the size of a toy car and they would Floo to their home in Scotland.

That night, during dinner, was the moment of greatest tension, after much urging from his parents, Harry had finally agreed to explain how he had been at school, when Brian couldn't take it anymore.

"What the hell is going on!?" He shouted, standing up.

"Brian Leonard Potter! What kind of talk is that?" Lily Potter scolded " I have taught you to be polite."

"I'll be polite when I know what's going on and why you're showing concern about this shit."

"BRIAN! Apologize right now! " James shouted, looking at his youngest son with disapproval.

" Apologize? Apologize? Why would I have to? He's worthless, this... this half-squib. Do you want me to apologize? You must be out of your mind!"

"Go to your room! You're grounded!"

[T/N: The F*ck]

Brian looked at his parents with an expression full of surprise and after throwing a look full of hatred and resentment at his older brother he left the room ready to make him pay for it later.

For his part, Harry looked at his parents in disbelief. Brian being punished? And even stranger, being punished for messing with him? What had the world come to? It was clear that something strange was going on here, and he was determined to find out.

"I'm so sorry, honey. Your brother shouldn't have said something like that to you." Her mother said with a pained expression. "It was in very bad taste and unnecessary. I honestly don't know what he meant."

"Don't worry, Lily, I'll talk to him seriously later."

"Thanks, James. Now, love, why don't you tell us about your learning, eh? It caught us completely by surprise."

"Besides, did it have to be Snape? There are other potions masters. Why did it have to be Snape?"

"Shut up James! Don't start again!"

"I'm tired," Harry cut in before they could argue again. "We'll talk tomorrow."

"Of course, rest son."

Harry left the dining room as quickly as he could and hurried to his room, wondering if he had ended up in some kind of alternate reality, because no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't accept the two strangers down there as his parents. If it weren't for the fact that Brian seemed as confused as he was. Instead, he decided on the most reliable solution to get information, writing to Remus.

The letter was simple and clear, he wanted to know what was going on, but he didn't need so many formalities thanks to the great trust he had in him. While he saw how he was doing with the family relationship, Harry imagined how they could continue their Easter holidays.

There was no reply to his letter, instead, Remus came to see him the next morning. He stood at the door smiling, looking at him with something resembling understanding.

"Remus!"

"Hi, I think you wanted some answers."

"Come in," The teenager said as he opened the door even further as an invitation "What's going on Remus? They're acting so weird, almost like they care."

"The bubble of happiness in which they lived has burst."

"What?"

"At the last meeting of the order... well, many things were said and a conclusion was reached that was hard for them to accept. Brian was not the prophesied child."

" What?"

"You heard me "The werewolf reiterated" After several months in which you have been stopping the different attacks, the order has focused and has finally reached the important conclusion... the "man" who has stopped the different Death Eaters, is really the prophesied white phoenix."

"That's impossible! Brian is the child of the prophecy, not me!'

"I must disagree with you there" Remus stated, staring at him " Harry, ever since you decided to intervene in the attacks you have shown a power that no one else has, and which has been spoken of in the prophecy, not only that, but you can also transform into a white phoenix. Everything indicates that it was you as I have known for three years."

"But Brian…"

"Brian was hailed as the child of the prophecy simply because he had been born when it was made," Remus explained. "Just because of that, there was no factor that said you had to be the younger brother, just that you would be one of the two, but we based ourselves on precedent, or rather, Albus based himself on the previous prophecies, and opted for Brian.'

"Does the order know who I am?"

"No! No, no one knows. The Order only knows that Brian is not the chosen one and that he is someone who was already born. Even though they know you are powerful, no one has thought that it could be you, because they are missing pieces to the puzzle."

"My animagus form"

"Yes, your shape, and your wand, and also your tattoo."

"And just because Brian isn't the one prophesied, they treat me like I'm part of the family?"

"Yes, and because Alice blamed them for their obvious favoritism towards Brian."

"Alice?"

"Alice Longbottom, your friend Neville's mother.'

Harry stared out the window for a few minutes before sighing and looking at his favorite 'uncle'

"This doesn't change anything. It's been twelve years, almost thirteen of being invisible to my parents, they've never laid a hand on me but they haven't loved me either. Now, just because things haven't gone the way they wanted doesn't mean I'll welcome them with open arms, that stopped being possible years ago."

[T/N: Yeah you tell them HARRY! If you loved this chapter then leave a comment, write a review, and drop some stones. If you want to finish the book a week or 2 early then check out the P@treon or the Ko-fi.]

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