This is a new type of story for me, I've read a lot of Dark Harry Stories, and I've found them to be excellent, so this is my attempt. I got my inspiration from a load of other stories, too many to name really, but hopefully you'll enjoy this!

I want to thank my brave and valiant beta, JohnFoxton, who miraculously managed to read through the first drafts of these stories and not have a heart attack from the quality of the writing!

I understand this story has been done before, hell I've read enough of them, but I really think I have managed to steer clear of most of the cliché's, or at least approach them in a novel manner.

The prologue is set 14 years after chapter 1.

Prologue: A Fresh Start.

The rain was lashing against the windows of Harry's office on September 2nd. Harry himself was sitting behind his desk, hurriedly attempting to learn the names of all his new students. He checked the Clock, 8.55, five minutes before his first day as a teacher.

He looked back down at the parchment, Babcock: short boy with black hair, Wilson: Pale girl brown hair. He carried on reading through the names until he heard the rumble of feet. This was it, Harry almost smiled as he considered that he was more nervous about this class then he had been about some of the battles of the war.

He picked up his lesson plan and the register before stepping out from behind his desk. The class went silent as soon as he opened his office door. Good, Harry thought, a reputation as a war hero may well keep some of the rowdier students in check… for now.

He strode confidently to the front of the classroom, hands clasped loosely behind his back. "Good Morning third Years and welcome to your first class in Wizarding Politics and Modern History."

He placed his lesson plan on the desk, first things first he thought. He read through the register quickly, all students present.

"Good, now please opens your texts to page 1, it would make sense to start at the beginning." He paused "now, 24 years ago, Neville Longbottom became the first person to survive the killing curse, Avada Kedavra, now the curse itself you will cover in more detail next year. Now, take out quills and ink, and get ready to copy this down" The class hurried to obey and when they were all ready, Harry began to dictate.

The Class had gone well in Harry's opinion, he had ten minutes left before the bell and he had managed to get as far through the material as he had hoped, as well a start several interesting and relevant debates, which of course was part of the aim of this new class, get the students to think for themselves.

"Professor Potter, Sir?" Harry looked down at the class,

"Yes Miss, uh Blakely wasn't it?"

"Yes Professor, I was just wondering, you were at school with Longbottom weren't you?" Harry stilled, this was not a line of questioning he particularly wanted to answer.

"I was three years ahead of him, but I suppose I knew him well enough. We were not friends though" Harry added the last bit quickly,

"Oh of course not, I didn't mean to suggest anything like that, I was just curious, before the war, before, well everything, was he the same as we understand he became later?"

Harry paused and took a deep breath, the war was over, but saying the wrong thing now could still get him in a lot of trouble with the new Ministry.

"Neville Longbottom is a fascinating individual, I won't say anything on him for now, as we will be having a full lesson on his exploits during his 6 years at this school and his relationship with The Order of the Phoenix next week. However, if you want to read into it further, I would recommend 'The Rise of the Dark Arts' by Bletchley and 'individuals of note during the Wizarding war: 1981 – 2009' By Davis. Both provide interesting perspectives and are on the extended syllabus reading list." Just then the bell rang, and the students stood up to leave, packing books and ink into bags.

"Homework, 9 inches of parchment on why the corruption in the ministry following the events of 1987 led to it being woefully unprepared for war." The class filed out, and Harry closed the door behind them, 10 minutes until his next class.

He had enjoyed his first class, and hopefully none of the students had been too bored, however that class had been Slytherins and Ravenclaws, which in Harrys experience tended to be the more studious of the four houses.

He stood up lazily flicking his wand to clear the previous lesson off the blackboard, a second flick and the tables and chairs lined up neatly, whilst any rubbish left behind sailed into the bin by the door. He leant down to check his class schedule, Hufflepuff and Gryffindor 5th Years.

A few minutes before the bell rang, the doors burst open, and the students poured in. Harry put down the book he had been reading and looked out over the class, he kept quiet, merely observing and when the clock struck ten, he stood, the Hufflepuffs and most of the Gryffindor's went silent, and the remaining conversations quickly stopped.

Harry mused that unlike the previous class, these students viewed him not as a Hero, but as the villain, he supposed he could play that role easily enough.

"Good Morning. Please open your books to chapter 6, I trust you all did the Holiday reading?" All the students nodded and Harry smiled, it seemed a foreign expression to his face.

"Good, then who can tell what the night of broken wands refers to?" The class was silent, "Anyone? Very well, you boy, any ideas?" The boy didn't answer, instead just glowering at Harry.

"No ideas? Dear me. What's your name boy?"

"Archie Bones." Harry nodded,

"As Mr Bones is unable to answer, allow me to fill you in; The Night of broken wands refers to the 743rd meeting of the wizengamot, when the previous chief Warlock Albus Dumbledore, in collusion with the ex-head of the DMLE had the heads of all ancient and noble houses arrested and imprisoned without trials. It was for these crimes, as well as those of treason and War Crimes that Madame Amelia Bones was tried and executed for last year. But I personally think young Archie already knew that don't you?"

Archie Bones glowered at Harry from his desk near the front, Harry raised one eyebrow with a slight smirk. They stayed still a moment, until Archie Broke.

"My Aunt was a good woman, she was murdered because she opposed Tyranny!" Archie shouted angrily. Harry Smirked.

"She was executed because she was a traitor who opposed progress. Speak out of turn again and I will have Mr Filch flog you, do I make myself clear?" the 5th year Gryffindor sagged in his seat, though he still looked murderous.

"Good, now back to the material, this term we aim to be covering the repression of dark magic in society, and the impact the recent easing of restrictions has had on crime rates in Britain."

No one spoke out of turn after that.

What do you think? In this story I aim to have very much a dark Harry, with lots of similarities to the dark Lord. As you've probably gathered Neville is the Boy who lived, and Harry is three years older. The next chapter, chapter 1 will be starting from before Harrys first year. The first three years I aim to cover in 2/30 chapters, as it will be his interactions with Neville and the gang that will begin to pressure Harry, into making his decisions regarding his future. Give me your thoughts!

MarshallAngmar