Harry Potter: The Merlin's Apprentice

31 July 1977

A woman in one of St' Mungo's Hospital rooms was weeping in pain. She struggled to preserve her consciousness. The man next to her was attempting as best he could to calm the woman down, and encouraged her. She panted from exhaustion, her body was wrecked. Mustering her final ounce of strength, she took one last huge breath and pushed her baby out of her body. The shrieking cries indicated a new life had been born. She smiled through her exhaustion, and the man beside her, grinned ecstatically.

Though she was losing consciousness rapidly, it was not enough to prevent her from seeing her baby and desiring to embrace him. As soon as the healers finished her delivery, they obliged to her wishes. They handed the baby into her outstretched arms once he was cleaned. The man next to her lent her his aid as she struggled to reach out for the baby. Her face exploded with happiness, smiling so brightly. She forgot her fatigue when she watched the sleeping form of her baby.

"Congratulations, Ms. Evans, on a healthy baby boy. May I add, a beautiful baby as well," the healer said with a smile. "What are you going to name him?"

Lily Evans exchanged a look with the man before shifting her attention back to the healer with a smile. "Harry. Harry James Potter."

The healer smiled, nodding her head. In subsequent to it, she left the couple alone to spend time with their newborn.

For a while, silence was the only thing in the room. All of a sudden, Lily called out to the man, "James..."

"Hmm..." James Potter wasn't really paying attention to the woman, too distracted holding one of his son's tiny hands.

"You asked me a question last night and my answer is yes." That snatched the man's attention.

"Really? Are you serious? You're not kidding, are you? If this is one of Sirius's pranks, I swear I'm going to get him back. But you're not joking, are you? If you really are, I'm going to have a severe heart attack. Luckily we're in St. Mungo's right now."

Lily chortled at his anxiousness, shaking her head tiredly. Little by little, a large grin swiped across James's mouth. He had never felt so happy in his life. Not only had he just become a father, but the very same night the woman he loves, agreed to marry him. He couldn't help but to dance happily.

The sound of someone yawning captured the attention of both adults. James swiftly rushed to Lily's side. They watched expectantly as their son gradually fluttered his eyes open and caught his first sight of his parents. What they saw that instant made them breathless as a pair of bright beautiful emerald eyes gazed back at them.

"Lily, he has your eyes!" James joyfully proclaimed. "Look, he has your eyes!"

"Yes, but his are much more alluring than mine... He's so beautiful, James..." Lily kissed the baby's forehead, hugging him lovingly.

"My son is going to be a ladies' man when he grows up. Sirius will be so proud!"

"James! I'm not going to let you or his godfather influencing him into something like that!" Although her body was drained of energy, she was still capable of unleashing her wrath on her soon-to-be-husband.

The man cowered under her glare. "Come on, Lil. It's just a thought... Nothing wrong with that..." he chuckled nervously.

The sound of cute laughter caused both adults to look down in surprise. They were astounded to find the baby was giggling at them, holding his tiny hands in the air. Their shock melted at the sound of the baby's musical laughter and both parents smiled at their son's antics. James offered his finger to his son, who grabbed his finger in both tiny hands, familiarizing himself with his father's rough skin.

"You know something, Lily? I think he's going to be a great man someday. I've never heard of a baby who laughed on the day he was born. I've got this feeling that he's going to do great things in the future..." James wiggled his finger in the baby's hands, eliciting another giggle from the fragile soul.

"Yes, he will," Lily agreed. "Someday he will, James..."

The couples were oblivious to notice they were not alone. An eerie glow, patch of shimmering gray light latched at the corner of the ceiling, and beneath the glow, some kind of otherworldly figures can be seen. Their eyes, which held no sockets at all, fixated on the newborn baby. Before anyone knew it, a disturbing smile that screamed of horrors, wrapped around their jaws. One last longing look at the baby, they were gone…

31 October 1981.

The wind howled with ferocity across the blackened sky as thunderstorm conquered the clouds. Rain poured down relentlessly over a lone man.

He had not trusted any of his followers to escort him on this imperative mission. He had to do this alone. Lord Voldemort, the self-proclaimed Dark Lord of Wizardry, marched with authority toward his target. The Potter's secret keeper had revealed to him the location of where they lay hidden. Normally, he would ignore such child, reflecting it to not be a threat, though currently he was doing against such thought.

It was not his will to begin with, but rather, the will of others.

With a wave of his wand, the door exploded. A high-pitch screech shattered his thoughts. Without looking, he soundlessly cast a dark curse in the girl's direction, decapitating her. Looking over the body, his lips curled downward. The body didn't belong to that mudblood. The Potter's weren't here. Boiling in rage, he screamed, permitting a huge flow of magic to destroy every bit of his surroundings.

With a swish of his wand, the disapparation ward fell. Just as he was about to flee, cries of a baby emanated from the upper level of the house. Voldemort moved to the staircase, scurrying to it. There, at the last door, was a voice soothingly telling the baby to be quiet. He blasted the door open, causing a small boy to jolt in surprise. Red eyes stared with interest at the crib, though what fascinated him most was the small boy, no more than four years old, gazing at him with fierce emerald eyes.

"Do you not fear me, boy?" Voldemort hissed in a dark voice.

"No, you're just a big meanie!"

Voldemort's eyes flashed in amusement. "Ah, how I've forgotten the delightful experience of being a child, so fearless and innocent-like. People say I do not have an ounce of mercy in my heart, however, all of that are falsely lies, so as to spread fear to my enemies. I do not kill children nor do I torture them, but your brother is an exception. So I ask you to stand aside, boy! It is not you who I after!"

"No! Don't touch my brother!" the boy shouted.

"Very well, if you desperately wish to defend your brother, then I suppose you shall die by his side. Nonetheless, I need to deal with him first, so be gone for now!" With a wave of his wand, the boy flew behind the crib, hitting the wall so hard. The man glanced into the crib, spotting a crying child no more than a year old. "At long last, I have found you. I do not know why 'they' insist in ordering me to kill you, but this has to be done, one way or another. Farewell, Daniel Potter. Rest assured I will make this painless." Leveling his wand, he summoned his magic. "Avada Kedavra!"

Harry Potter helplessly watched the scene unfold before him. He'd made a promise to his mother before his parents left that he would protect his brother no matter what. Struggling to remain conscious, he gathered every scrap of strength with one thought, he must protect his brother. He closed his eyes tightly and grounded both hands into tight fists. Clenching his jaws, he gritted his teeth together and something tingled inside Harry. Golden light began to envelop his brother's body, sparkling fiercely. It halted the killing curse just before it reached his brother.

The man's eyes were wide in shock, never before had he stumbled upon such magic. He believed the baby had created such a thing, having not notice the sweating form behind the crib. Sweat poured over Harry in his effort to stop the killing curse. The baby cried more at all the ruckus, and as fate entwined both brothers, the baby unconsciously poured all of his magic into the golden shield. By this sudden turnabout, the shield miraculously converted into the color of white before deflecting the rest of the curse back to the Dark Lord.

An ear-piercing scream erupted from the cottage, followed by the cries of Daniel Potter. Bit by bit, the snake-faced man was ripped to pieces, replaced by a pile of black ashes. Not a single living body was there to witness the shrouded shape disintegrate into emptiness.

James and Lily Potter had been called by Dumbledore to an emergency meeting of the Order of the Phoenix. They had attended in hopes of getting some more information in relation to the safety of their children, as well as the end of the war. But right in the middle of it, they were interrupted by Sirius barging in, panic written all over his face as he spouted nonsense in his inane babble. It took several minutes to settle him down, enough for them to understand he was yelling that Pettigrew was not in attendance at the meeting, nor did he show any sign of struggle or having been kidnapped.

Both parents swallowed uneasily, praying Pettigrew had not defected and joined Voldemort. Nonetheless, when Dumbledore confirmed that someone unwanted had entered their hidden place, they knew it to be true. After Apparating to their residence, everyone stared in horror at the fire blazing through the house. Dumbledore immediately commanded everyone to cast Aguamenti in order to put out the seemingly uncontrollable flames.

Ignoring the other members, both parents sprinted into the house. Dumbledore and a few others followed, casting Aguamenti all the way. A feeling of dread surfaced as they caught sight of the girl the Potter's had assigned to watch over their children, lying in front of them without a head. Lily, sobbing by now, dashed upstairs to find her boys. Without wasting any time, the others pursued her.

That was when they came across a very strange sight.

Before them lay the ashen form of something resting on the floor, a crying baby, and a cataleptic form that was still breathing. Relief ignited in all of them. The parents rushed to Daniel to inspect his injuries while the others flew to the unconscious boy. They then moved over frantically to satisfy their concern regarding whether or not her eldest son was breathing. A few minutes after they had left the collapsing house, Madam Pomfrey came over to verify their conditions.

She noted that the eldest son had suffered damage only to his left arm, which she deemed the primal reason for his loss of consciousness. She never realized that the true reason for his being knocked out had been his exhaustion from using too much magic. As Madam Pomfrey declared Daniel Potter had lost the majority of his magic, but was able to retain consciousness. Dumbledore walked over to the baby, held by Lily, and moved a strand of red hair away from his face. There, on his forehead, was a lightning bolt scar, blood still trickling over its features.