Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not, or ever has been, mine and so every day I mourn.....:)

Summary: A/U Harry's different, as is his magic. To keep hope alive he is hidden away from the wizarding world, but the most powerful magical place in the world, Hogwarts itself, would never allow them to hide him forever. R for abuse and slash. Hg/Hp/Dm

A/N: Another one, this is my third story now and I'm planning on not making it very long, nothing is worse than a good idea dragged out over dozens of chapters.

Inspiration for this story comes from the movie Bless the Child, but only inspiration, nothing from the storyline, plot, characters or religious themes will have anything to do with this fic whatsoever.

Of course, you'll find out in exactly what way Harry is different eventually, until then it'll be a surprise.

Core of Power

Chapter 1: Hidden

I want to go outside.

I know Albus doesn't have time now.

Yes I know school is in session.

I know I can't, but I still want to.

I can't leave my rooms right now anyway, Albus is in his office and he might check.

Yes maybe tonight.

I'll make sure I won't get caught this time.

No Albus doesn't know, he doesn't know anything, only you do.

Yes I am grateful that you let me out and I'll be more careful in the future.

Well I've never been caught before now, have I?

Yes I know six years isn't very long for you, but it is for me.

Shhh, I can hear someone talking.

"Albus, I demand to know what's going on. Why did Severus find him wandering through the halls in the middle of the night and for that matter, why is even he here at Hogwarts?" He could hear a woman's voice coming from Albus' office and it sounded like they were talking about him. He quietly made his way to the back of portrait that guarded his rooms.

"He's been here for over six years now, but as for why he was in the hallways, I don't know. As far as I knew he wasn't able to leave his rooms by himself." Albus' voice, and they were indeed talking about him.

"He..., what? You mean to say he has been locked away in his rooms for six years? Why?" Good question, he thought. Of course he knew the answer, Albus' answer anyway, but that didn't mean he liked it any better.

 "Do not worry, I made certain the boy had a terrace magically hidden from view so he could go outside and I kept him company as often as I could, as did the house elves." He had to hold back a snort, as often as possible wasn't so often at all, which suited him just fine now.

"You didn't answer my question." He recognized her voice now, he thought he had heard someone call her Minerva McGonagall. He had seen her a few times before now, always from a distance, but she seemed as strict and uptight then as she sounded right now.

"I'm afraid it was necessary for his own safety. If no one knew he was here, then no one would be looking for him." Ah, the same old story.

"But why didn't he go to classes with his peers? The boy needs an education." Well she certainly was in for a surprise.

 "He has an education, a muggle education that is. I'm sorry to tell you that our dear Harry Potter is a squib. He wasn't able to attend classes here, therefore I took it on myself to teach him how to live in the non-magical world." Albus sounded apologetic. This time he did snort at what was being said, but luckily they didn't hear him. Non-magical indeed, they had no idea.

It was silent for a few seconds before he heard McGonagall ask another question. "That still doesn't explain why the boy is here. Why isn't he with his relatives?" He shivered at the thought.

"Several reasons, but most importantly because they were not prepared to take care of his special needs." He could hardly believe how Albus made something that was such a horrific part of his life sound so innocent. "Harry is autistic. It's a very mild form, but he's not able to attend any normal muggle school and on top of that, there are the deatheaters who are still looking for him, therefore I decided to keep him here. I felt I owed it to him." Right....

"Oh dear. That poor boy. But even if he is autistic he still needs human interaction, preferably with people his own age." He couldn't believe his ears, someone actually wanted him to meet people, someone was taking his side.

"Yes, now that he found a way out of his rooms and people have seen him, the damage is already done and I knew I would not be able to hide him forever. How do you suggest we do this?" Finally, freedom.

"Maybe we should choose a few students who could interact with him." He heard McGonagall say after a few seconds of thinking. Yes, say yes, please say yes.

"Yes, I'm thinking one of each house. I will let the heads decide who. Do you have someone in mind already?" He could hear a chair scraping and then Albus' voice saying the names of the other heads of the houses. He was summoning them to his office.

"I think Hermione Granger would be a good choice for Gryffindor, she was made headgirl for very good reasons." Ah, he knew who that was. Brown, bushy hair, pretty face, studious like him. She.... oh shit.

"A very good idea and...." Albus stopped talking when the sound of his dropped cup breaking carried beyond the portrait. Damn.

 "Toothfairy." He heard Albus say the password to his rooms, he was definitely caught.

"Harry, you know very well eavesdropping is very impolite." Albus said with a smile. "But seeing as it concerned you, you're forgiven. Now come in and meet Minerva McGonagall, the transfiguration teacher."

They walked into the office and he saw McGonagall sitting in one of the chairs in front of the large desk. She was looking at him in such a way that he felt like some object to study. She probably knew his parents, the headmaster had told him many times how much he looked like them. It was always the same. You have your father's hair and face, but your mother's build and eyes. Thank Merlin, he couldn't imagine himself with the same ugly glasses his father was wearing in all those pictures, although he would have liked to be a bit taller than he was now.

"Hello Harry, it's very nice to meet you." She nodded at him, smiling.

He didn't say anything, he had actually never spoken to anyone but Albus and house elves for six years, but he did nod back. He was curious about her, he had always wanted to meet more people, but Albus had forbidden him, had said it wasn't safe. But the way he was looking at her seemed to be making her uncomfortable, so he turned away.

As Albus went back behind his desk and sat in his chair, Harry sat down in the seat closest to the desk. He felt nervous and sat as far away from the female professor as he possibly could. Just as Dumbledore was pouring three cups of tea there was a knock on the door and after a curt 'enter', the three summoned professors came in.

He already knew their names, but not the people, and he looked at them in wonder. The first to enter was Fillius Flitwick, then Severus Snape and last was Sprout. He didn't know her first name, because she was always outside and he couldn't go there.

They seemed to find him just as interesting as he found them, even though they had already known he was here since yesterday. He guessed it was because the whole boy-who-lived thing and he instinctively flattened his bangs over his scar, not that it did any good. He hoped not everyone stared at him like that, that would certainly be annoying.

Albus introduced the just entered professors and he just nodded again in greeting. They were intriguing. He had never had an opportunity to see them up close like this before, except for Snape. The potions master had caught him when he was in the dungeons and that was how this had all started. If he had known this was the outcome, he would have let himself get caught years ago.

"If you're really going through with this I think Draco Malfoy would be the logical choice for Slytherin, he is the headboy after all." From what he could gather from this conversation after Albus had explained their plan concerning him, Snape didn't like him very much. The man kept glaring at him and had a feeling of hostility about him, not something he had felt directed at himself before.

"Ernie Macmillan for Hufflepuff then." Sprout smelled of fresh earth and petrol. Logical really, since she was the Herbology teacher, that was why she was outside so much.

"And Padma Patil for Ravenclaw." Flitwick didn't seem completely human to him and not just because of his small size and features, those could be explained by some spells gone wrong. No, his magic was different, must be a cross with another magical species.

"Ah yes, all very fine students. Are you all sure they are able to deal with Harry's special circumstances?" He felt sick and humiliated at that remark, he almost felt like he was back at Privet Drive, those people had always talked about him like that, especially when he was in the room.

The four professors nodded and it was settled, he would meet the four students in two days.

Back in his rooms he picked up his pillow and threw it against the wall as hard as he could, there wasn't much satisfaction in it, but he didn't want to attract any further attention. In order to get rid of some of his frustration he pointed his hand to the cup he had broken earlier and with a bit of concentration and effort it was whole once again.

I know it's better that they don't know, it gets annoying though.

No I won't tell them either.

They don't know anything, only you and I do.

End chapter 1.

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