Heyo all, Thank you so much for your support in my last story and I hope you enough this one just as much. Couple of quick things before i get to it.

One: This story will span a few different universes when it crosses over. In that regard, this story will be AU almost in its entirety.

Two: If you feel the need to comment on something, please do it in a respectable way.

Three: Your support means a lot to me and i take to heart any constructable criticism. I love reading the reviews you guys give me.

With that said, Enjoy!

"Darkness is rising, the Light is failing to hold it back," a feminine rang out from the blackness, "But not all hope is lost." A large, bright sphere appeared in the darkness, pulsating as the voice spoke. "You have great potential, young one, and you will need every ounce of your own power to combat the full might of the Darkness. Your path ahead of you will be dangerous and fraught with perils beyond your imagination, but do not fret my young chapion. Along the way, you will gain powerful abilities and gather faithful allies to help you in the Final War for Life. Before any of that, your personal life, your first life, needs to be lived. I have seen your future if left unattended, and it can't end that way. So here is my first gift to you, my champion, my little light, my son if you wish it, be free of the bonds that hold you back, and be free from THE GRASP OF THE DARKNESS!" As the last words were said, the glowing orb of light pulsed brighter and faster until blinding white light filled the area.

In a cupboard under the stairs at a rather normal looking home at number 4 Privet Drive in Little Whining, Surrey, a young boy at the age of seven with unruly black hair and startling emerald eyes, bolted straight up into a sitting position on his thin mattress, hand flying to his forehead in pain as his head throbbed.

'What in the world…' the child asked himself as he pulled his hand away from his forehead when the throbbed ebbed and then faded away, 'and what the hell is this black stuff?' he finished thinking in alarm as he saw the black goo on his hand. He quickly wiped it on the wall before scrubbing his forehead where his scar was, cleaning off the rest of the foul liquid, not wanting it anywhere on him or near him in case it was harmful to him.

"BOY!" the child immediately cringed and curled up into a ball in the farthest corner of his cupboard, trying to stay out of reach as a walrus of a man angrily unlocked the door and reached in, grabbing a fistful of the child's hair before yanking him out of the closet.

This was the child's uncle, Vernon Dursley. A 350lbs man that did look more like a walrus than most walruses. He didn't like anything that would be even remotely considered "abnormal". Brightly colored clothes, overly friendly neighbors, gay couples, male or female, and most of all, he hated the child he had to call nephew. One Harry Potter, otherwise known as the emaciated child Vernon had forcefully dragged from the cupboard under the stairs.

Mysterious things always happened around the little 7-year-old. Whether it be hair re-growing when Petunia, Harry's aunt and Vernon's wife, cut it when it wasn't wanted, or appearing on top of the school Harry when Harry's cousin, Dudley, the last of the Dursleys that lived in the house, and his friends chased Harry during one of their favorite past times. Harry Hunting. They would chase Harry for hours before finally catching up to him and beating Harry until at least a few bones were broken and he was passed out from the pain. Harry then would have to walk back to his home… no, wait, that isn't right… his relatives' home before being beaten again by Vernon in a drunken rage at him being late to cook dinner for the Dursleys, most of which Harry was denied before being tossed back into his "room" which, he was reminded constantly, was where "freaks" belonged.

"WHY are you BLOODY screaming at an UNGODLY hour of the night?!" Vernon yelled into Harry's face.

"I don't know what you mean, uncle," Harry replied meekly before getting back handed and being sent to the floor.

"You know FULL well what I mean," Vernon said as his face became redder with rage

"But I…" he started to say before being cut off when Vernon grabbed his hair roughly

"You know what? I don't care for your excuses," Vernon said before tossing the small child against the wall and walking to the kitchen.

"Please uncle," Harry said weakly and his eyes went wide with fright as he saw his uncle walked back into the Livingroom with a pan in hand, "No… please… I'll behave…. I'll be quiet"

"Yes, you will," Vernon said with a sadistic grin, "And I'm going to make sure of it. Also, don't expect food for a few days." He finished speaking before swinging the pan at Harry's shoulder and pulling back for another one.

The last thought that went through Harry's head before he passed out from the pain of being repeatedly hit with a metal object was, 'Please let this be over soon, I can't take it anymore.'

Despite the wishes of his aunt and his uncle, Harry Potter was never normal. For one, he had the most impeccable memory. It being photographic, it would have to be. Unfortunately, it also had its downsides.

Harry could remember everything that ever happened to him and he had to live with it every day. All the beatings his relatives gave him. All the times he was called a freak, but most horrifying of all… He could remember the last moment he had with his mother.

Flashback

Lily Potter, mother of Harry with fiery red hair and bright green eyes. Eyes that Harry had inherited ran up the stairs to the nursery on the second floor of their modest house. Behind her she could hear the fight happening between her husband, James Potter, and the Dark Lord Voldemort.

"Run all you want girl!" Voldemort shouted as he engaged James, "You'll be next soon enough." This hardened James resolve as he tried desperately to fend off the maniac in front of him.

James kept up a retreating pattern throughout the 1st floor of his home. Being a Transfiguration prodigy, combined with knowledge of Lily's advancements in runes and charms, he set up traps along his path of retreat for Voldemort to run into, ranging from sudden spikes trying to impale to entanglements to slow down Voldemort enough for James to get a hit in, only for each attempt to fail.

As the fight dragged on, Voldemort began losing patience wondering why one of the last Potters in front of him wouldn't just give up as he got glancing blows in time after time while avoiding being hit by the traps. He would never admit it, but he did respect the Lord Potter's attempts and ingenious designs for them. Gracefully dodging side to side while throwing up a shield every once in a while.

Finally, he decided he had had enough.

"REDUCTO! REDUCTO! AVADA KEDAVRA!" Voldemort yelled, throwing the two reductor curses to either side of James, trapping him in the middle of a dead end hallway while also making sure that James couldn't summon any debris to block the Unforgivable Killing Curse.

As James saw the green bolt of energy, ironically the same color as Harry's eyes, he said one final thing.

"I give my life so that my child may live. And may you rot in hell, Voldemort." With that, the spell hit James so hard, he flew back into the wall with a huge THUNK before the lights of his eyes left and James passed on to the Next Great Adventure.

Voldemort, after watching James slump to the ground dead, turn and headed back to the staircase, taking care not to set off any traps the Lady Potter may have set. What he failed to notice from James' body though, was that a faint shimmer of energy floated up from his body into the room above him, the nursery where Lily and Harry were currently in.

Up in said room, Lily had hastily, but carefully, drawn a ritual circle filled with runes from different languages and dialects before replacing the area rug back over it and set up Harry's crib over the rug.

"Oh Harry, my baby boy," she said to the child as she looked at him and was startled by the look of intelligence in his eyes, "You understand don't you." The child could only look at his mother as tears filled his eyes. "You will probably remember this too. Well if it must be this way, always know that I love you and so does your father. Take heart that this will always be the case and I will be watching over you." She let out a sob as she saw the simmer of energy from her fallen husband rise through the floor to help power the runes etched into the floor. She looked back to her greatest pride and for just a moment, the Light that had guided her hand to tonight showed her what Harry would grow to become. "Thank you, Traveler. You don't know how much that means to me."

Knowing that the moment she had been preparing for was upon her as she heard Voldemort's voice behind the barricaded door, she kissed the child's forehead and looked back into her child's eyes. "Follow the Light my son, she will not lead you astray. You will be great one day and become Light's Champion. The road will be hard and filled with challenges but know that I have faith in you, both your father and I do. Now to prevent your untimely demise," she said with a tearful smile before standing straight up, "The Oscar goes to…" She turned around and watched as Voldemort blew open the door.

"You know," Voldemort began, "You Potters are one hard family to find and kill."

"Take me and leave my son alone," Lily pleaded with the evil figure in front of her, "take my life and spare his."

"Stand aside silly girl. I'm only here for him," the dark figure replied as he raised his wand and flicked it in a 'move aside' motion.

"No," Lily begged almost hysterically, "Take me instead and leave him alone. Spare him, please…" Had Voldemort not been so anxious to get the deed done, he would have realized that something was amiss. That something was not quite right with the way the woman in front of him acted. Alas, he was too focused on his task.

"Fine, so be it," he said before crying out, "AVADA KEDAVRA!" Smirking with satisfaction as the woman dropped to the floor dead and the child in the crib started crying. Despite it happening right in front of him, he failed to notice the shimmer of magic moving from Lily to underneath the rug right next to her.

Voldemort moved up next to the crib and turned to the child with a critical eye.

"You know," Voldemort began, "It all seems so anti-climatic in the end. For you were supposed to be the end of me. But look at us now. Your parents are dead and now you are defenseless." He smiled cruelly as the baby showed fear on its face as Voldemort brought his wand up to the baby's face. "Say hi to your parents for me. AVADA KEDAVRA!"

What happened in the next instant happened so fast that Voldemort didn't even have time to blink, let alone have his heart beat. The killing curse left the terrorist's wand and immediately hit the barrier that the rune circle underneath, now fully powered by the feelings of love and protection towards Harry from his parents, created. It rebounded off the purplish dome of energy and hit Voldemort with such force that the room exploded. Two of the outside walls crumbled against the force as they were not made to withstand it. The last thing Harry saw before blacking out to the backlash was a black, shadowy form split in two, despite it not being very big to begin with, and one half rushing towards Harry's head.

Flashback end

As Harry's body healed from the battering it took at the hands of Vernon, his mind actively went through its, by now, routine of repairing mental damage through reviewing memories and sorting them into different categories. Harry, being the smart and intelligent kid, he is, used his photographic memory to great effect.

He decided early on, about 5 years old, that he would keep his mind organized so that he wouldn't eventually get overwhelmed by the sheer volume of what he could remember. When he first started kindergarten, Harry thought that maybe he could gain the favor of his guardians by doing good in school.

He was quickly disabused of that notion when the very first report cards came in and Harry's grades were better than their sweet Dudykins. He was beaten severely and starved for several days after the fact due to Vernon and Petunia's beliefs that Harry had somehow cheated to be better than their son. Though Vernon made sure that the marks weren't anywhere that could be easily visible.

Harry didn't know why he had bothered. He should have known that that would be their reaction since even when he did all his chores to the T, it was never enough for the walrus and his horse and he would still get beaten, called worthless, and fed with the bare minimum to survive.

This had continued for the next couple years, but Harry had not been idle. He started planning. He knew that the only way for him to survive and make his mom proud and her death not be in vain, was to get out from underneath his relatives and disappear into the wilderness where no one could find him to bring him back to the 'loving' care of his guardians.

Shortly after that first beating with the grades, Harry started hanging out at the local library every chance he got. He started by looking into a group of books dealing with survival out in the wilds that he knew he would need to make it out in the world after he made his escape.

This was until he had his first accidental magic incident. This was when Harry had teleported on top of the school during a regularly scheduled 'Harry Hunt'. When he teleported, he had felt a pull of energy from somewhere inside him and it immediately had his curiosity.

Harry had then spent the last year and a half experimenting with this energy. At first, he found it rather difficult as he couldn't get the feeling to return. It was only when they had taken a trip to the Zoo for Dudley's birthday when Harry was 6, that Harry had a break though. It was when he caused the glass to vanish, he realized that he needed a strong enough intent and will power to cause these seemingly random occurrences to happen. Unfortunately, his discovery led to one of his worst beatings to date and it took him two weeks to recover instead of only a couple of days.

He wasn't deterred though. In fact, he was more solid in his resolution to get out of there. He spent the next year practicing with different ideas and his energy. From moving objects around to teleporting different places, though he had to be careful because if he did it wrong, it would make a loud crack. Luckily, none of the Dursleys were home to hear the noise at the time.

More and more, Harry clung onto his last memory of his mother. It was the only thing that kept him sane and determined to live his life and to get out from underneath his aunt and uncle. After every beating, while he was healing and conscious, he would sit in his cupboard and listen to his mother's last words to him. Desperately hoping that they were true, but also knowing that his mother loved him. He wasn't a freak to her. He would survive so that her sacrifice for him would never be in vain

'Today is the day,' Harry told himself as he came back to consciousness, 'No more will I live in hell.' Harry sat up on his thin mattress and started gathering his possessions into his backpack that he had fixed after Dudley had thrown it out when he got a new one. He idly noticed that his injuries weren't completely fixed, but he didn't care. It was night time and this was his best chance to escape. He needed to get out.

After Harry took everything important to him, which wasn't much, a spare change of clothes (the only other set he had.), and the blanket that he had been dropped off in (He couldn't leave the only thing he owned that his mother gave him.), he focused his intent and reached out to the energy that resided in him while reaching out his hand to where he knew the lock was on the outside of his cupboard door and pushed the energy, reveling in the feel as it rush out to do what Harry commanded it to. With a loud clack, the door swung open and Harry rushed out. He quickly scoured the kitchen for some food before he rushed to the back door. His stomach suddenly dropped with the feeling of dread when he heard his uncle's door open with a bang.

"Boy! What is all that racket?! You better not be doing anything to make me very angry with you!" Vernon bellowed as his footsteps thudded on the ceiling above Harry. This spurred Harry on as he quickly unlocked the back door and rushed out. He ran to the edge of the forest around right at his back yard. He was making good progress he thought, until he heard a very distinct noise.

CRACK

Pain. That was all Harry felt as he stumbled before finally falling.

Pain. It was all Harry thought of as he ran his hand to his right side and pulled it away. His eyes went wide as he saw his hand covered in blood. He quickly replaced his hand and put pressure on the wound while looking behind him. What he saw made his blood run cold.

Vernon was standing at the back door with a bloody revolver in his hand and a sadistic grin on his face as if he had been waiting for the day to come where he could be rid of the boy.

Harry thought furiously as Vernon raised the gun again. Just as he pulled the trigger, Harry's determination spiked, and he raised his hand with one thought in his mind. 'Protect me, Please!' His energy responded with a ferocity previously unknown to him and a bright gold shield erupted into existence as another gun shot filled the air. Harry watched as the bullet raced to him, it was as if it was a horrible train wreck. He couldn't tear his eyes away. That was until the bullet struck the golden shield and ricocheted off into a fencepost. Both Vernon and Harry stared dumbfounded. Harry quickly refocused, even though he felt pretty drained, and struggled to stand up, knowing he had to get away as quickly as possible or risk dying then and there. 'Thank God for miracles,' Harry thought to himself has he stumbled off into the forest distantly hearing his uncle bellow commands that he ignored and continued walking/stumbling, trying to put as much distance between him and his personal hell as possible.

He walked for what felt like days when the sun finally started rising in the sky. He collapsed against a tree that he knew he couldn't wrap his arms around. He was growing cold, knowing that it was due to the blood loss from the gun shot wound. Luckily, the bullet had gone all the way through, but Harry wasn't sure exactly how much damage had been done. Unfortunately, though, he knew it was fatal. He had lost too much blood already and his bouts of coherent thoughts were becoming further and further apart.

'So, this is it,' he thought to himself, 'Sorry mum. I can't hold on much longer. Maybe I will get to… see… you…. soon.' With that, he fell unconscious, but not before he heard a trill that left him feeling comfortable and relaxed. Never noticing a warm, wet feeling cover where his wound was.