Disclaimer: I do not own anything except for very few things.

Summary: Post OOTP story. Harry is a mutant and Voldemort destroys most of the Order of the Phoenix. Harry defeats Voldemort and travels to an alternate dimension. Pairings not decided for alternate universe but for this original universe, its Harry/Ginny.

IMPORTANT AN: I really hated HBP. It portrayed Harry as a weak guy. Come on people, he has to defeat a dark lord – he has gotta have power. I think I will leave the normal story to JKR. This story will only have bits and pieces of HBP. And oh yeah, I know there is a lot of OOCness in the story but it is my story so bear with it.

This story will mainly be a "Harry goes to alternate universe" story. I have read many alternate universe fics and I wanted to write one too. But the alternate universe will be totally different. Also you could consider this an X-Men crossover but it only contains mentions here and there. The only important thing is Harry is a mutant. So lets get on with this.

Chapter 1: Prologue Pt 1

Prologue is the high speed, shortened version before Harry goes to alternate universe. At least this is what I have started this out as… lets see how it ends up.

Albus Dumbledore was considered by many as the Merlin of the modern age. He had achieved so many things in his impossibly long life of 163 years. His accomplishments led to him having so many titles that they alone took more than quarter of the content of any letter he wrote. People hail him as the leader of the light, an all sacrificing man who has always worked for the betterment of the wizarding world. The fact that he had defeated the previous dark lord and was the only person who the current dark lord feared put credence to his abilities and accomplishments.

People regale him as an icon they can always depend on. That is not to say that they always did of course. Just the previous year, the Daily Prophet, the newspaper the populace reads slandered him and Harry Potter mercilessly.

This young child was the root of all his thoughts currently. Albus Dumbledore would never admit to any accolades or praise thrown his way. He had always been a modest and cheerful man. He did however; always admit his mistakes even if they were delayed. Most of his mistakes in the recent decades related to one boy who meant more to him than even his brother and he was Harry Potter.

Dumbledore always knew that any child of James Potter and Lily Evans would be a brilliant child. But, it was not the brilliance that made Harry Potter his most favorite pupil, it was his very nature. There was something in him that drew people to him, much like himself. His other attributes were not to be discarded however. Who can boast of a corporeal Patronus at the tender age of thirteen? He himself couldn't. There were so many things that were endearing about him that he couldn't help but love him like a precious grandson.

But now he had seen the same young man break down and then destroy his office in a fit of rage that was hard pressed to meet. He had just now told Harry Potter the prophecy that more or less dictated the life of the young man. The words of the screaming young man rang in his mind and heart. He had never felt this old, this defeated before. Who was he to ask a mere child to do what no man had done. Yet he knew Harry would do it, if not for himself, then he would do it for those that he cared about. Harry was that kind of a person.

The burden of being the one responsible for all this mess even if it was only part of it, weighed very heavily on Dumbledore's mind. He was partly responsible for not stopping Tom Riddle before he became Voldemort. Because of his belief that he could be redeemed, hundreds lost their lives. The damage done was enormous. By the time he took steps to combat Voldemort, fate took the decision away from his hands and handed it to Harry Potter.

Then there were all the mistakes he had made in regards to Harry. Even though his close friend Minerva had advised against placing him with his relatives, he had done so. And the consequences were not pleasant. Harry had a horrendous childhood and had very low self worth. He wondered why he didn't tell Harry the prophecy before when he had specifically asked him a number of times before. He had wanted Harry to have a semblance of a normal childhood but he had not realized that he had never had a normal childhood. Harry's following years at Hogwarts had also been turbulent. One after another trouble propped up right under his nose at his beloved Hogwarts. He had been too busy focusing on so many other mundane things like the ministry that he had never paid much attention to his most important charge.

Harry Potter had first captured his heart as a new born babe with those large expressive green eyes so like his mother. His innocent trusting gaze melted his heart. He had truly been a beautiful child. Then he had missed a decade of his life. Even after he came to Hogwarts, he could only get bits and pieces of his life. He tried so hard to act in the capacity of a grandfather but he let his principles of being a headmaster get in the way.

There was no way he could let this go on any longer. One does not live as long as he did and not learn from his numerous mistakes. Harry Potter was all about love and care even though he had never received any and he would change that. He would quit from all his official responsibilities if it interfered with his responsibilities towards Harry. Harry may not be of his blood but he did consider him as a grandson. And family always comes first.

With that resolution, he made plans to visit Harry at his residence as soon as Harry reached there. There were a few days to go and lots of work to be done. His old and weary countenance was replaced by a ruthless determination that brought him to the attention of Nikolas Flamel all those decades ago.

He had seen the pitch black energy starting to form around Harry when he was caught in his rage. A child showing his aura was unheard of. It was so very different from others too. It seemed like a black fog condensed around him and hung about him. Harry needed training and guidance. But unlike before, he would not order Harry to do as he told. He would confess everything to him and then let Harry make his own decisions.

A few days later

Albus Dumbledore had completed the preliminary preparations for the summer. He had informed the Ministry and the Wizengamut that he was taking a sabbatical to help fight the menace of the dark lord Voldemort. In reality it was all to help Harry. He had, through careful maneuverings, obtained waivers for underage magic usage for the six students who had faced the death eaters in the Department of Mysteries. Considering the number of people who owed him favors, it was not all that difficult. Fudge was on his way out and he would dare not cross Dumbledore though he would never hint at anything like that.

Albus Dumbledore had according to his decision, planned to meet Harry when he reached his relatives' house today. Based on Harry's decision, he would take further steps in regards to him and his friends. He had given some thought about external matters and left them in the capable hands of his friends Alastor Moody and Minerva McGonagall. The Order could cope with his absence for a few days. If Harry wanted to train, he would personally train him as long as it was required. If Harry wanted to take a break, he had already arranged for a short term vacation knowing that the poor boy had never been on a vacation before.

There was still time and he did not want to antagonize the Dursleys more than necessary. So he made a portkey directly to the smallest bedroom of number 4, Privet Drive to meet Harry Potter.

Harry Potter was quietly contemplating the events of the Department of Mysteries as he sat in his Uncle's car as they rode home. His ill fated trip and its consequences weighed heavily on his mind. He should never have gone there. It was not all his fault per se but a part of it did fall on his shoulders. For once in his life, he had tried to verify the situation before brashly rushing out. He had been misled by the wretched house elf. He couldn't honestly blame himself for everything that had happened. His friends had ganged up on him and tried to make him understand. Oh he did understand all right. But that didn't mean they had to drill it into him. They berated him for blaming himself and asked him continuously to talk to them. They were convinced that he should talk about losing Sirius so that he would not get lost into depression. He had blown up spectacularly. His screams had been heard by the whole of Gryffindor house and his magic shook the tower.

He had ignored Ron and Hermione from then on. They were his dearest friends but it didn't mean that they could pry into everything. He knew they meant well and he would probably apologize to them the next time he met them. He had roamed the castle freely ever since that night. No one dared to question him in Gryffindor. His explosive temper was already a legend and nobody wanted to bring down his wrath upon themselves; especially when he was in such a bad mood.

The sole exception was little Ginny Weasley who was not so little anymore. Unlike others, she didn't do anything like others did. Wherever he went, she somehow traced him and followed him. Harry gave up scolding her into not following him after the first few times. The truth was he needed company but not like Ron and Hermione. Maybe Ginny understood this. She came and sat with him. Neither of them talked at all. They sat or roamed for hours in each others company without a single word being spoken. It was somewhat comforting. Even on the last day before leaving, there was no word between them. He was obliged to thank her but he knew there was no need. The silent company had been like a balm on both their souls. There was no dearth of quiet places in the castle. With the Marauders map, he had found quite a few of them. The time alone for them from the masses gave them both much needed time to think about a lot of things.

There were so many emotions warring within him that he didn't know what to feel. There was an extreme sadness due to the loss of Sirius, and then there was his ever present guilt and depression. He was a bit happy that Arthur Weasley, Alastor Moody, Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks took it upon themselves to warn his relatives about his treatment. There was bitterness about the whole situation. There was disbelief that he would be the one to kill Voldemort. There was his single minded determination that he would see this through, he would kill Voldemort. But mostly there was one emotion that overshadowed everything else – anger. He was angry at Voldemort for so many things. He was angry at Snape for being a git and not teaching him Occlumency correctly. He was angry at Dumbledore for not keeping him informed. He was angry at Kreacher for misleading him. He was angry at Bellatrix for knocking Sirius into the Veil. He was angry at himself for believing in a stupid vision. He was angry at Fudge for being an idiot. He was angry at Remus for holding him back. Hell, he was even angry at Sirius for not fighting seriously. Anger festered inside him burning unlike anything else.

The past few days went by in a daze and he didn't really notice anything. The only thing he did notice was that he had an immense growth spurt. He only noticed this because he looked ridiculous in his cousin's clothes. They were several inches too small. Somehow he had almost gained an inch a day after the death of Sirius. He now stood at a healthy 6 foot 1 inch. His eyesight had healed within two days of the incident and his scars from various previous encounters had also vanished. His body gained a firm tone and he had never felt healthier in his life. Curiously, his senses had sharpened to an unbelievable extent. He heard so many sounds around him that they almost gave him a headache. He could smell the scent that people gave off easily and could even follow a person based on his scent alone. His eyesight sharpened to such an extent that he could see almost clearly in the dark. And he felt a lot stronger than he had ever been. He could easily lift his trunk earlier to store it in the boot. His reactions were quicker too. He had almost attacked Ron when he tapped him on the shoulder in the train. His violent disposition also didn't help matter. He lashed out at everyone and everything around him these days. All these things confused the heck out of him.

Shaking his head from such thoughts, he watched his uncle and aunt silently glaring at him every once in a while. His cousin was engrossed in a comic and was munching on something that smelled especially strong. He caught a whiff of cigarette smoke from his cousin and uncle. His aunt had a little bit of earthly scent on her from working in the garden. He heard the sound of shuffling as his cousin wiggled in the backseat. He also heard his aunt huffing under her breath about unnatural freaks. These subtle details ran through his mind confusing him again.

He pinched himself to pay attention to the passing scenery and ignore the smell and minute sounds made in the car. He wondered how long his relatives would heed the warnings of the Order. He was not that optimistic and gave them a day to get back to their original behavior. A good sleep drove away everything else from their minds. There was no way they could agree with any witch or wizard regarding any matter. It was the principle of the thing for them.

His thoughts wandered until he noticed the familiar driveway of number 4 Privet Drive. His relatives hurriedly got out and rushed to the house. Well his cousin shuffled since his chubby legs could no longer help him run. He went to the back of the car to retrieve his trunk. Again he was hit with a multitude of information from his senses about smells and sounds of people nearby. The neighbors, people on the streets, animals – there were so many things about which his senses gave him information. He lifted his trunk from the boot easily and locked it shut.

His uncle bellowed from the doorway "BOY. Get in before anyone sees you."

Muttering about insensitive jerks, he put his owl cage on the trunk and lifted them to carry them both inside. He heard his cousin switching on the TV and his aunt in the kitchen. His uncle was not seen immediately. He quickly locked the door and carried his trunk upstairs. The door to his personal cell along with its many locks came into view. He pulled at the door with his leg and stepped in.

As he comprehended that his senses told him there was an intruder inside his room, he spotter Albus Dumbledore standing to meet him. A sudden surge of rage raced through him. Before he knew it, he had dropped his trunk and owl cage and punched the old sorcerer right in the jaw. He was surprised at the strength of his punch. He had heard the headmaster jaw crack and the dull thud he made as he was knocked against the wall. The elaborate chintz armchair he was sitting on had toppled backwards. He was satisfied to see him slump down unconscious. But soon his satisfaction gave away to mortification. Sure he had been angry but he had never ever punched anyone. He panicked and rushed towards the fallen man.

A few minutes prior, Albus Dumbledore had arrived in the room by a portkey. He conjured himself a chintz armchair in the cramped space. He silently surveyed the room with remorse as he thought about what Harry should have rightfully had. He spent a few minutes like that until he heard the car turning into the driveway. He prepared to greet Harry as he heard footsteps on the stairs. As soon as the door opened, he stood up and froze on seeing the person. Harry was no longer the small impoverished teen that he had last seen at school. Harry never attended meals in the great hall after he had told him the prophecy. So, seeing a skinny 5'3" Harry being a sturdy 6'1" youth momentarily shocked him. He barely noticed Harry's expression change to extreme anger when he felt pain shoot through his jaw. He was sure his jaw was broken before his head collided with the wall and he lost consciousness.

"Sir!" Harry shouted as rushed towards Dumbledore and tried to shake him awake.

"Oh hell, I am sorry. Wake up sir." He tried again to no avail.

His wand was still in his trunk. So he searched for Dumbledore's wand in his long sleeves knowing that that was where he usually kept it. He finally located it and drew it out. He didn't know any healing spells. So he had to wake him up. Surely he would know something or else he would go to Madame Pomfrey to get his injuries fixed.

He shot an enervate at the headmaster to wake him up. He helped Dumbledore sit back up on the armchair that he knew he had conjured. "I am sorry sir. I was so angry but I never meant to do that." He repeated again. 'Or maybe I did'he thought mentally.

Dumbledore noticed his own wand in Harry's hand and his eyes twinkled joyfully. Since he couldn't speak, he held up his hand to stop the apology and beckoned for his wand. To Harry's amazement, the wand flew from his hand to Dumbledore serenely. Dumbledore pointed his wand to his jaw and a soft blue light covered his jaw.

"Never mind that dear boy. I dare say you will be more than inclined to punch me again once you have heard to what all I have to say." Dumbledore told him.

"But sir, I still shouldn't have hit you." Harry argued. 'I should have kicked you and I will probably do so if what you said is true.'

"Its alright Harry. The impetuous youth cannot be faulted with everything." Dumbledore said calmly. "See no harm done."

"If you say so." Harry agreed and asked accusingly "Why are you here sir?" He did not wish to be ordered around so soon if ever and his underlying anger at Dumbledore resurfaced again.

The twinkle in his eyes dimmed and his expression turned a bit sad. "Why don't you get comfortable Harry? There are a great many things to talk about and I don't wish to intrude on your family unnecessarily."

He pointed his wand at the door and put up silencing and impenetrable charms on it. He turned to Harry who had sat down on his threadbare cot and started "I know you are angry at me Harry. You are completely justified to be angry at me. In my old age, I had forgotten that there is more to life than survival. As I promised you, I will not hold anything back from you. If you want to know anything, I will endeavor to answer you to the best of my ability. But could to satisfy an old man's curiosity and tell me how is it that your body has developed so extraordinarily? After all even in the magical world it is nothing other than astounding."

"Great. Just another thing to make me stand out!" scowled Harry.

"There is always a first time for everything dear boy. Don't fret over simple things like these." Said Dumbledore gently. "Now could you tell me how you could conduct magic through my wand?" asked Dumbledore.

"Err… am I not supposed to be able to?" asked Harry curiously.

Dumbledore chuckled and said "Oh Harry. Your innocence is refreshing. It is a well known fact that you can't perform magic with another person's wand. It is why you choose your own wands after all. Your naiveté in common matters of the wizarding world is unbelievable."

Dumbledore's cheerful attitude and the twinkle in his eyes died as the next words from Harry's mouth hit home "Which is all your doing."

"And I am sorry for that Harry. I know a simple apology doesn't even scratch the surface. I know what I did was wrong dear boy and I am willing to do anything to earn back your forgiveness. Consider myself at your complete disposal until you fit free to release me Harry." Dumbledore said earnestly, his blue eyes pleading for forgiveness.

Harry was flabbergasted. "I… I don't know what to say sir."

Dumbledore chuckled again regaining his cheerfulness "Come on dear boy. It is not that difficult to accept. For this summer and beyond I am at your beck and call. I have given notices to my various other responsibilities requesting an extended sabbatical. We can do whatever you want. I know you have never had a vacation which I know is my fault for leaving you here. We can go on a vacation to anywhere you want. We can travel around the world. There are truly fascinating things to see that I had discovered in my younger years. Or if you want, I can train you unlike any other person in recent history. I have picked up quite a few tricks over the years. I dare say that people are justified in saying that Tom fears me."

"No doubt about that" muttered Harry.

"Indeed my dear boy. Indeed. Though I might point out that one more wizard has been added into that short list." At Harry's shocked look, he continued "Yes Harry, he does fear you." Seeing Harry about to interrupt, he raised his hand and said "Now, now Harry. Don't sell yourself short. Tom has always failed in matters concerning you or your friends. So what do you want me to do Harry? What do we do this summer?"

"But sir, the Order and the school needs you." Harry protested his urge to hurt the headmaster leaving him for now.

"I have left the matter in the capable hands of Minerva and Alastor. Besides you are the most important person in the world Harry." Dumbledore stated.

"That's right. Your bloody weapon to kill big bad Voldemort." Harry said bitterly.

Dumbledore's face fell hearing that. "Is that what you think Harry? Is that the way it all seems to you? I am truly sorry you fell that way Harry. I assure you this has nothing to do the prophecy or your bearing to the current war. All this I am doing is personal Harry. For you. For the innocent child who captured my heart as a babe and a young man who has overcome the tests thrown at him that would crush a fully trained auror. I love you like a grandson Harry. Sparing my brother, I also do not have any other family like you dear boy. It was with utmost reluctance that I dropped you off here at the Dursleys. I should have checked up on you or better yet taken you away from here. But I was so busy with meaningless meetings and jobs. That is why I am doing what I should have done ages ago. I had promised to Lily and James that I would take care of you and I have failed spectacularly so far. Please let me make it up to you Harry. You mean more to me than anyone else in the world. I could not wish more for in a grandson that you."

Through Dumbledore's admission, Harry's bitterness faded and he realized that there was more to Albus Dumbledore than the defeater of Grindlewald and headmaster of Hogwarts. He truly cared for him. How long had he wished for someone to care for him as Harry and not as the Boy Who Lived. He had craved for someone to care for him like a family from his childhood. Though the Weasleys were great, they had their own family. Here was his only chance at family after the death of Sirius. He had tears running down his face by the time Dumbledore finished talking.

He got up from his cot and rushed to hug the surprised headmaster. Dumbledore recovered quickly and held him in his arms with bright eyes. "Oh dear boy." Dumbledore said as he hugged him back fiercely.

From within the folds of garish purple robes, Harry's muffled voice said "I had hoped you would feel the same way. I always looked upon you like a little crazy grandfather who liked to spoil his children. You were the picture perfect definition of a wizard with long white hair and beard. There was also the comforting twinkling blue eyes and cheerful nature topped with your eccentric behavior. But last year when you ignored me, it hurt so much. I though I had done something bad and that was why you even refused to meet my eyes. Now, knowing the reason why you did it does not lessen the hurt in the slightest but it does give a degree of closure. I had always thought I was cursed with relatives who only hated me. Family was always a strange concept for me. I was always envious of the Weasleys for being a happy family. Thank you so much. You don't know how much this means to me."

Dumbledore only hugged him tighter and said "I wish I had done this sooner. We could have had such a wonderful time together."

"But we will grandpa. We will. We will first take care of Tom and get the prophecy done with and then I will strive to give you all the problems a grandson should cause." Harry said moving back to sit on the cot.

Dumbledore visibly brightened hearing Harry refer to him as grandpa. His twinkling eyes could have lit up a dark room. "I will look forward to that dear boy. My heart feels so much lighter now. I think this moment could power a Patronus that could even destroy a dementor. You have given me a gift beyond measure dear boy. So tell me Harry what shall we do this glorious summer?"

"I first want to get rid of Tom sir. Can you make sure my friends are safe? Maybe you could get them and me waivers for underage magic. Then they could at least defend themselves without any repercussions. It would also help us prepare further. A few pointers to them from Tonks or Kingsley should also help. I also hope you could train me. Don't get me wrong, Tonks and Kingsley might be aurors but you are the only one who has and knows what it takes to face down Voldemort." Harry said thoughtfully.

"Dedicated to friends I see. Harry I hope you get comfortable enough around to call me grandfather. I laud your thinking Harry. I shall look into further improving the protection for your friends. Anticipating this, I have already obtained the waivers for all six of you who went to the department of mysteries. Remind me to tell a few of the more interesting things about the department of Mysteries. Some things are simply fascinating and I have been assured that you would be one of their most treasured pupils should they get hold of you." Dumbledore stated.

"Sir… Grandpa, I might look into that after this Voldemort business. It frankly scares me that you know people everywhere. If Atlantis were whole, I don't doubt you would know someone there too." Harry said.

Dumbledore chuckled "A man does make contacts when he lives as long as I have. Almost all of them have been my students Harry. Now Harry I don't believe it is useful for you stay here any longer. It would take a long time for me to train you and I am very eager to see the kind of surprises that you can pull. I am looking forward to teaching you all I know. Your teachers have all told me of your dedication to learning something if you are serious about it. Thought they do complain that you have never applied yourself in classes until now. I hope you take this seriously for even if you are like a grandson, I am a demanding teacher." He finished sternly.

Harry scratched the back of his head nervously "Err… Its just that I found the classes boring. Don't get me wrong, the teachers are well versed and able, except for Snape but they take so much time. One curse in a whole class, it is just so… drab. It just doesn't pose enough of a challenge to make it interesting. While preparing for the DA, I could pick up spells in three or four tries. And in class, usually Hermione is there for us. It just doesn't fire me up to perform to the best of my ability." With a sheepish expression he added "Oops. Sorry about that. Its just that I haven't revealed this to anyone and it just rolled out of my mouth. Hermione would probably give me an hour long lecture if I told her and Ron would pound me on my back and drag me off to play chess."

Hiding his surprise and delight, Dumbledore replied "You surprise me yet again dear boy. I am very happy that you trust me enough to tell me this. In time I hope you feel comfortable enough with me to talk about everything. I will always be there for you in case you want to ask me anything or just vent about idiocy of the ministry or your girl troubles."

Seeing Harry's blush, he chuckled heartily "Already having such problems Harry?"

"No. Not yet." He said and added quietly "But I certainly hope so in the future."

"Quite right. Now excuse me dear boy. I shall make preparations for you. I request that you stay here for just one more day. It shouldn't take me more than that to complete my preparations and inform Alastor about protection and training for your friends." Dumbledore said and got off the chair. He vanished the chair with a flick of his wand.

"I hope you were not injured by my punch. You know grandpa, when I first apologized to you, I was cursing you mentally. You also said that you had some unpleasant things to say because of which I would be liable to hit you again. I was actually looking forward to knock you out then. What are these unpleasant things anyway?" asked Harry.

Dumbledore sighed and replied "Believe me Harry I repent having made so many mistakes in regards to you. Why don't we leave these unpleasant matters for tomorrow? I promise you that I shall endeavor to tell you everything tomorrow. I just want our parting to be a happy one for today."

Harry hugged him relishing in the comfort it provided and said "Its ok. As long as you tell me tomorrow its not a problem. See you tomorrow grandpa."

Dumbledore hugged him back and said "You will soon be free child. May Merlin look over you dear boy."

Dumbledore gave Harry one final pat on his back and disapparated without a sound after removing the spells on Harry's door.

"I have to learn how he does that." Harry mumbled as he settled down to sleep dinner forgotten.

Harry didn't know how wrong he was. He would never get to learn from his adopted grandfather or hug him again. Hell would descend upon the wizarding world at an alarming speed.

It was the last night he had to stay at Privet Drive. He had not had dinner or lunch and he was hungry. But hunger was not the problem, it was his nightmares. He dreamt about the tortures his friends would go through if he failed. Their screams terrified him but he was helpless to do anything. He was lost in the throes of his horrendous nightmares.

Suddenly he was awake due to strong pain in his gut. It seemed like someone punched him good. By some instinct he didn't know he had, he sat up suddenly and struck out with his right hand. He heard a distinct sound of a sword being taken out of its sheath but he wasn't sure.

When he opened his eyes, they almost bulged out of his sockets. Sitting on his thighs with his fat fist on his stomach was Dudley Dursley, his cousin. Even more shocking thing was that his right hand had somehow attained claws made of bone coming out from the space between his knuckles. And all three ten inch long claws were embedded into his cousin's chest near his heart. The look of absolute shock was permanently carved on the face of his cousin. There was blood all over the sheets.

Then he heard a scream and shrieking of his aunt Petunia "DUDDERS! What did you do you freak? My poor Dudley-poo." She rushed to them on the cot and tried unsuccessfully to dislodge his claws. His weight was too much for her to handle alone.

His uncle Vernon came shouting next "What have you done freak? You have killed my son. No one can save you now. I will smash you to death." He tried to get Dudley off him but even he was unsuccessful. "KILL MY SON WILL YOU, YOU FREAK? You WORHTLESS PIECE OF SHIT. I WILL DESTROY YOU."

Harry was still in the process of comprehending that he had claws and they were stuck into his cousin's heart. He was broken out of his reverie by the sound of a shotgun going off. He snapped his head to look towards the sound and he saw his beloved pet Hedwig covered by blood. She was his constant companion and she was now dead. He looked dumbly at his uncle who was holding the shotgun with his hands with an expression of sadistic glee of his face.

Harry snapped. He was so angry. His fury ate away at his coherent thoughts and he was ruled by pure instinct. With his left hand he shoved his dead cousin hard on his chest. Dudley flew back and crashed against the wall. When his aunt made to scratch him with her long nails, three more claws popped open from his left hand with a "snikt" sound. He sunk the claws into her brain and bounded up from his cot. Blood splashed at him.

With a hoarse shout of "PETUNIA" his uncle raised his shotgun and shot at him. He dived to the side at the last minute but still got hit on his thigh. He went down hard. Like a wounded beast, he launched himself at his uncle with a snarl. Both of his hands were pointed at Vernon with bone claws sticking out.

His uncle shot at him again and this time he didn't miss his target. He was shot in the stomach and launched backwards by the power behind the gunshot. His stomach was bleeding profusely. His blood mixed with Dudley's and Petunia's. He tried to stem the flow of blood by pressing his hand against his wound. He now knew why someone said that a wound in the stomach was one of the most painful ways to die. It hurt so much.

The enraged face of his uncle came into his view. His face was a fine puce color and he was spitting as he spoke. "YOU WILL PAY BOY." Even in his pain, Harry was enraged. If he was going to die, he was sure as hell taking his uncle with him. Harry lashed out with his other hand at his uncle's face. The claws carved deep lines on his face but they were no where near fatal.

Vernon howled with pain and stepped back. He shot him again in the stomach. Next, his right hand was held against the ground and his uncle's leg crashed on it. A crunching sound was heard as his bone claws were smashed and fingers were broken. Vernon forcefully extracted his hand that was covering the gunshots causing blood to spurt out again.

As he crushed the fingers on this hand and claws under his overweight leg, Vernon spoke to him with malice in very word "You worthless freak. You are going to die painfully. Being shot in the stomach is one of the most painful ways to go. But you will suffer even more."

He then shot his other thigh missing his knee cap by centimeters. He pressed his foot on the two bleeding gunshot wounds on his stomach and told him nastily "Bet your whore of a mother and your bum of a father are proud of you now boy. They will wish they had never given birth to freak such as you. But like father like son I say. Both worthless freaks who should be put down like dogs."

Vernon, in his half deranged state, did not notice a black mist starting to condense around Harry. Harry's eyes were feral and his lips bared in a snarl as he heard Vernon insult his parents. He screamed "NOOOO…" and released something at Vernon. A massive wave of energy burst out from him as he thought 'Burn in hell Vernon.' With that last thought, he lost consciousness not noticing everything around him burning caught in unquenchable flames.

Eric Lensherr or Magneto as he was known, was watching the residence of number 4 Privet Drive closely for the past few hours. When he had first read the reports at his base of an off the chart powerful mutant from the modified cerebro unit, he immediately left to retrieve him before the government or Charles could get to this new mutant.

This new boy was supposedly more powerful than any mutant in the world surpassing even Jean Grey. He had seen that the new mutant was similar to Wolverine with an unexplainable extra factor. He would serve as the perfect soldier for him. By the time he was done with him, he would be able to destroy Xavier and his students all on his own. His recently acquired Weapon X machinery coupled with his power over magnetism would create the ultimate weapon.

He watched silently waiting for nightfall. He could have easily destroyed the fat bastard and his bony wife and taken the boy but he wanted to keep this a secret. He knew it was only a matter of time before Xavier and the government picked up on him but he was faster. Getting to England was no easy feat for both groups which required extensive preparation. He had rode on the magnetic waves alone at his fastest speed. He had planned to keep this mutant away from everyone. Even his brotherhood would not know about him. He had already shifted all the needed Weapon X equipment and doctors to the new secure facility hidden inside a mountain. He had kept that location as a safe house from Charles in case he lost his helmet. The mountain scrambled any kind of scanning.

This was his personal project. He would unleash this new mutant after complete reprogramming. He was broken out of his musings by screams inside the house. He heard the sound of a shotgun being fired. He also heard a few crashes and more yells and screams. He stood back and watched. This would serve as a test for the new weapon. He wanted to see how the new mutant would come out of this. He was knocked out of the air as a giant black fireball lit up the house and a massive wave of energy ripped out of it.

As he got up, he saw that there was no sign of a house ever being on that site. There was a ten foot deep crater where the house used to stand. He rose to the air as the neighbors came out to investigate. There in the centre of the crater was a burnt and bloody body of a young man. He heard shouts of "Mutant", "Freaks", "Criminal scum" and many other things from the neighbors.

"Simple minded homo sapiens" he muttered as he levitated all the cars in the neighborhood. The people watched horrified as the cars came to rest above their heads. They screamed and tried to run away but the cars came crashing down. They were all crushed under the weight of the cars. He pointed his hand to one of the cars and levitated it. He ripped it open and formed a stretcher from the plates and hoods. He went into the crater with the stretcher and picked up the burnt and bloody body. He placed the body on the stretcher and summoned the shards of shotgun shells from his body. He could already see the burns disappearing and the wounds closing.

He motioned towards the stretcher and flew away into the silent night leaving behind a scene of horrific destruction.

The same night, chaos and destruction reigned under the direction of Lord Voldemort. His death eaters attacked various muggle neighborhoods. Dementors roamed free throughout the country sucking out souls at their whim. Before the Order of the Phoenix could even rouse itself, it was decimated.

The lopsided wizarding home of the Weasleys, the Burrow was burned to the ground. The wards were brought down by Voldemort himself. Dementors circled the house rendering the Weasleys unable to fight. The few Patronus that were created were snuffed when the death eaters barged into the house. All the Weasleys were caught along with Fleur Delacour who was staying with her fiancé Bill Weasley. Voldemort awoke every one of them and executed them one by one. He detested raping of women in his presence mainly because he could not do it himself. So his death eaters were forbidden to ravage the females. One by one starting from the father, the Weasleys were tortured and murdered. Ron Weasley was tortured the most before he was killed. Voldemort stopped them from killing the youngest child Ginny Weasley. He told her to tell the world of the power of Lord Voldemort.

When she spit on his face, he ordered the leader of the werewolves, Fenrir Greyback to bite her. It was a testament of his power that he could control a transformed werewolf, one as vicious as Greyback even on a full moon. The full moon shone as he bit her. Before he could devour her, Voldemort stopped him. Then he transfigured some wood into a silver crucifix and nailed her to that. He watched as she screamed. Her body grew fur as she transformed. She snarled at him even under the painful crucifixion. He grew tired of playing with her and shot a silver inducing charm at her. It would generate silver in her body every few hours. It would give a very slow and painful death. He ordered his death eaters to dump the bodies into the house and set it on fire. According to him, blood traitors should not get a decent burial.

Elsewhere, the Grangers were attacked by Bellatrix Lestrange and her group of death eaters. Her creative forms of extreme torture made the other death eaters lose their stomachs. By the time she was done playing with them, their bodies were unrecognizable and their minds were fried. She ordered the death eaters to have fun with the comatose bodies and burn them after they were done.

In the house of the Lovegoods, the recently released Antonin Dolohov led the attack. Being known for their bizarre thoughts and beliefs, the Lovegoods put up an astonishingly excellent fight. The father daughter pair held them at bay for a whole ten minutes before the wards were completely taken down. Rather than being tortured and killed, they both chose to kill themselves. They performed one of the restricted spells on themselves which linked their magical blood to a massive explosion. When their bodies exploded, all the death eaters nearby were killed in the explosion.

The Longbottom manor had stood for over five centuries. The Lestrange brothers led the attack to complete what they had started fifteen years ago. Even though they were surprised at the ferocity of the Longbottom boy who they all believed to be a squib, they easily overcame the Longbottoms. The Lestranges, not known for their subtlety, cut off their arms and legs before burning them alive.

The final nail in the coffin for the Order of the Phoenix was in Hampshire where large contingents of death eaters were attacking muggles. The remaining members of the Order arrived in all their glory to combat the death eaters. But they were overwhelmed when all the other death eaters arrived after completing their attacks. Then all sounds ceased as Voldemort arrived.

Albus Dumbledore and Voldemort clashed like titans. The other Order members were easily being taken down. But Dumbledore was still going strong countering all the dark curses Voldemort threw at him with ease. He used his mastery over Transfiguration to help others as well as attack the death eaters. It was a sight to behold to see such a magnificent display of magical prowess from the wizard considered at modern day Merlin. His blue eyes were grave and determined. A blue aura of magic surrounded him as his long beard and hair flew about. He created golems out of nearby wreckage and transfigured numerous animals from even small bits of clothing and debris. He did all this while fighting Voldemort. All this was tiring him out but he had to hold on until the aurors for here to help. His friends were falling quickly and Tom was not at all tired.

Voldemort was firing immensely strong curses and hexes at him while shielding himself. Even though this was a draining way to duel, he had an abundance of magical energy available at his disposal. He could see the Order being overwhelmed and Dumbledore getting tired.

Voldemort ceased his attacks when all the members of the Order were brought down. "ENOUGH" his cold voice boomed over the battle. The death eaters stopped their attacks on muggles. "Give it up Dumbledore. Your precious Order is dead and you are alone. No one will come to help you."

"You are wrong Tom as always." Replied a tired but determined Dumbledore.

"Do not call me that old man" Voldemort hissed. "I killed all the blood traitors and the brats that had faced my inner circle in the department of mysteries. Look around you Dumbledore. Your Order is dead. Only Potter is remaining. Soon my death eaters will arrive with him. Severus was ever so pleased to be entrusted with that particular job."

Dumbledore held a faint hope that somehow Severus had managed to get Harry to safety. He only had to hold a bit more and aurors would arrive. He was immensely sad that all his friends had died. He felt so helpless hearing the murders of the Weasleys and the good people who fought against Tom. He had promised just a few hours earlier that he would keep his friends safe and he had failed. Nothing he could do would ease the burden on Harry now. He was so looking forward to spending some time with his quasi-grandson and tutoring him in the wonders of magic. He doubted that would be possible now. Still he wished that Severus had managed to help Harry escape.

Seeing the flicker of hope in Dumbledore's eyes, Voldemort laughed coldly. "Ah. Thinking that your dear spy Severus will rescue your golden boy Potter?" Seeing the shocked look on Dumbledore's face, he continued "Shocked Dumbledore that I know about your spy? In truth he was my spy all along. He never defected to you. Your problem is you trust too much. You still believe me and my followers can be redeemed don't you Dumbledore?" Voldemort taunted coldly.

"Severus is my most trusted follower. He is the Prince who I have named my heir. He used the skills you taught him against you. He is the epitome of Slytherin is he not? Did you know that he has the same blood status as me old man?" Voldemort asked.

Setting aside his anger, Dumbledore asked calmly with a hint of steel in his voice "Oh I knew that he was also a half blood like you Tom. I had hoped that he had reformed his ways after informing you about the prophecy. But I no longer believe that you and your followers can be reformed. I pity you all for the path you have chosen."

"Pity!" Voldemort laughed coldly. "I don't need your pity Dumbledore. I shall rule the world and you death shall signal the rise of a new era of darkness."

Their banter was interrupted by cracks of apparation. Four death eaters kneeled in front of Voldemort and kissed the hem of his robes.

"Where is Potter?" hissed the dark lord angrily not seeing the brat anywhere.

Dumbledore's spirits were lifted thinking that Harry had somehow managed to escape. His hopes were dashed when he heard Severus speak.

"My lord," Severus Snape started "the brat's house was not there. There was only a crater where the house used to stand master. The area reeked of Potter's magic but no body was found my lord."

The next instant, Snape was writhing on the floor from the Cruciatus curse. But he did not scream like the rest of the death eaters. "I expect my orders to be followed Severus. You may be my heir but you will be punished if you fail." Voldemort spat angrily.

Dumbledore reached out to Fawkes mentally and asked him to locate Harry. He watched as Severus was cursed. He was surprised when he received a reply from Fawkes barely a second later. Fawkes informed him that Harry was definitely alive but he could not be found. Dumbledore was happy that Harry was away but he could not understand what had happened. He had told Harry that he would leave the Dursleys tomorrow and he didn't think that Harry would run away. And the news about the crater was disturbing.

Voldemort spoke to Dumbledore smugly "I will give you a chance to bring down your traitor Dumbledore. You can duel Severus before I kill you. What do you say Dumbledore?"

"I accept" Dumbledore said simply.

Snape appeared in front of him with his wand raised and sneered "I shall destroy you old man. Getting the Order killed was fun but I wanted to kill the brat. I shall have to do with you instead."

"How could you Severus? I thought…" Dumbledore started but was stopped by Snape.

"Cut your useless drivel Dumbledore" Snape spat "I was always loyal to my master. Getting Potter and his mudblood wife killed was the best day of my life. Now the dog is also dead and the rat is with my master. The wolf will get his due soon and I shall revel in the destruction of the Marauders. I will personally hunt down the arrogant brat and kill him too."

Dumbledore's remorse turned into anger. It was a terrifying sight. No one save for Voldemort had seen him this angry and it was not pretty. His blue aura twirling around him and his hair and beard swaying to a wind made an intimidating sight. His steely blue eyes and his overwhelming presence cause a few death eaters to scurry a few steps backwards. Even Snape could not hide his fear even with his prowess at Occlumency. "So be it" stated Dumbledore as he attacked Snape.

Dumbledore did not fight to disarm. He fought to disable and kill. He used cutting and piercing curses with deadly accuracy. The shield Snape put up buckled under the focused onslaught. Before he could really hurt him, he was disarmed by a flurry of hexes from Voldemort. The fight barely lasted three minutes.

"Come now Dumbledore, did you think I would let you kill my heir? Though it was refreshing to see you go for the kill, I simple cannot allow you to do any more damage to my ranks." Voldemort said as he caught Dumbledore's wand in his hand.

Dumbledore did not say anything but beckoned to his wand with his finger. To the dark lord's surprise, the wand flew out of his hands into the hands of Dumbledore. Before he could stop him, Dumbledore had sent a curse at Snape. Even though Snape tried to avoid it, his left hand was cut at his elbow from the curse. He dropped to the ground in pain clutching his stump.

"Did you think I thought you everything Severus? Even Tom doesn't know the things I do. Did you really think you could beat me?" Dumbledore asked coolly.

"Now Tom lets finish this shall we?" he said and launched attacks at him.

There were now words said as cursed flew between them. Transfigured animals intercepted curses from Voldemort and shields reverberated with each spell. Dumbledore was so very tired. He was wondering why the ministry had not arrived yet. He was suddenly taken out of the fight when he fell prey to the multitude of curses that Severus threw at him from behind. He adjusted to deflect his spells but the concentrated attacks from Tom and Severus had his disabled soon. Voldemort burned his wand as soon as he got it. Dumbledore was panting from exhaustion and was barely able to hold himself upright. His robes were frayed and he was bleeding from numerous cuts. Some of his bones were broken and his beard was singed.

"Don't you see how futile it is Dumbledore? I have won. It is only a matter of time before I rule the world." Voldemort asked gleefully.

"You will never win Tom. Harry will defeat you and I shall aid him in one way or another." Dumbledore said firmly.

Voldemort laughed coldly "What makes you think I will let your spirit to rest? I shall bind your soul to an accursed blade and let it rot for eternity."

"I pity you all when my grandson will bring forth Armageddon upon you. Harry will be the death of you all and he shall succeed." Dumbledore said with conviction.

"You have found Grandson have you Dumbledore?" Voldemort asked amused. "Harry Potter will be nothing. Are you expecting aurors to come to aid you Dumbledore? Did you forget that the distinguished bureaucrats at the ministry are discussing the issue of a new minister tonight? Those useless excuses for wizards need the protection of all the aurors the ministry has. They are an abomination to purebloods. They will be next."

"You shall meet your end at the hands of Harry Potter Tom. Mark my words." Dumbledore prophesized.

Severus started "the brat is useless…"

But Dumbledore tuned out everything. He closed his eyes and prayed to gods to let him help Harry. He wanted Harry to be happy. He had to somehow make sure that the child could lead a good life. His next adventure had to wait until Harry was happy. He knew what he had to do. He only hoped Fawkes would help him. He didn't really know what would happen but it was all he could do.

He started chanting under his breath in long lost ancient Greek. He was performing an ancient ritual lost in the ravages of time. It was a simple ritual that was used by wizards of old when they felt that their life held no more meaning. It was a way to give up your life for a single wish and it always required a pure light creature such a phoenix or a griffin to carry the soul. The ritual called for a judgment of one's soul by magic itself. The soul would then be subjected to thorough examination and if found worthy, a wish was granted. The invocation called for a pure light creature to carry his soul away destroying his body.

He knew he was successful when he felt his body being washed away by intense light and being unmade gently. He felt his soul set free and Fawkes appearing. From a soul view, Fawkes looked magnificent. His presence was so majestic in this place of existence. Fawkes was almost as big as Hogwarts itself with a dark golden aura of power around him. Dumbledore barely heard Severus and Tom hurling killing curses at his body in rage. Fawkes gently picked him up by ethereal talons and vanished.

Only five people other than Harry Potter had escaped from the destruction of that single night who were related to the Order of the Phoenix or their families.

Ginny Weasley was hung on a silver crucifix after being turned into a werewolf. Behind her the Burrow lay in ruins with the charred bodies of the Weasleys.

Percy Weasley was ferrying memos and papers for the high profile members of the ministry during the discussions for a new minister. He had high hopes to be the under secretary to the new minister of magic.

Kingsley Shacklebolt was assigned to protect his superior in Magical Law Enforcement department, Rufus Scrimgeour. He did admire the man but he was worried when his Order signal buzzed and he couldn't go.

Remus Lupin was undergoing his transformation in the basement of the headquarters. He was in a padded and sealed room for the night of the full moon.

Nymphadora Tonks was watching the headquarters for the night. She had taken leave from her ministry duties to be with her crush, Remus Lupin when he underwent transformation. Since Molly Weasley was busy with the kids returning from Hogwarts, Tonks was also assigned the duty of watching the headquarters.

When Albus Dumbledore 'died', she felt the backlash of magic due to the violent release of the Fidelus charm. She was knocked unconscious by the influx of magic. As soon as she regained consciousness, she rushed downstairs to the basement where a transformed wolf was resting. Having taken the Wolsfbane potion, Remus was docile. Just to be sure, she nailed the man she loved with two stunners and apparated with him to her apartment. There she kept an eye on him the whole night while pondering over the state of the Order of the Phoenix.

It was a very frustrating yet rewarding week for Magneto. It was one week since he had taken the new mutant to his mountain safe house.

The first thing that irked him was the lightening bolt shaped scar on the boy's forehead. All his other wounds and burns had healed by the time they reached the safe house but this scar simply opened up without any reason. Whatever they tried, they could not close it up. Droplets of blood trickled from the scar continuously for several hours during which the boy was in constant agitated state. They had to pump in enough sedatives to knock out an elephant to just keep him still. Then all of a sudden after a few hours, it stopped on its own.

The very next day, they faced a problem. When they tried to erase his memories, they were met with heavy resistance. He decided that they would look into it later and ordered the doctors to proceed with the Adamantium insertion. It was a chore to continuously pump in heavy duty sedatives into this body.

The Adamantium insertion went perfectly as he oversaw it the whole week. Along with the purification of Adamantium by liquefying it, he further enhanced its potency using his magnetic powers. The unbreakable metal was twice as strong and potent as the metal inserted into Wolverine. The boy's skeleton was completely covered by Adamantium just like Wolverine. The doctors told him that it was the maximum amount that they could put in the body. His broken bone claws which were being healed automatically were removed surgically and replaced by pure Adamantium claws. It ensured that the original bone claws would not grow back again.

During insertion procedure, the doctors informed him that the boy's healing factor was four times as potent as Wolverine's and his senses were also four times sharper than Wolverine's. They told him that they could not enhance it any more than that without exchanging many body parts. He was more than satisfied with that and so let it be.

Also during insertion procedure, he ordered the fighting styles and techniques to be loaded into his brain. They could delete his memories later. Hand combat and weapon combat techniques were implanted into his brain along with the knowledge of guns. All the fighting styles from the ancient Samurai style to the modern Aikido were implanted without a fuss. His brain seemed to absorb such knowledge like a sponge. His brain was also loaded with survival skills knowledge. The most important thing that was implanted was the knowledge to protect his mind from external intrusions. It seemed that there was already some knowledge regarding this particular field. The additional knowledge was assimilated frighteningly quickly.

He purposefully left out battle tactics and other things as he wanted the boy to be dependent on him for orders.

The other factor was the unknown power he held. They had not come across anything like that before. Two times during the week, the scar had bled again. At those times, there was a strange collection of energy near the boy. It didn't seem the boy was generating the energy. It was more like he unveiled the energy that was always there in him. During these times, the electronic equipments seemed to flicker. The energy that was unveiled seemed to disrupt the devices. When the bleeding in the scar stopped, the energy was hidden again like it was never there.

It was a dangerous thing to let loose a mutant with such power and now advanced knowledge without reigning in complete control. His power of using that tremendous energy would be a big problem. So now everything except the erasing of memories was complete. The Adamantium insertion and the memory implants were complete. This was the most dangerous stage of the project. If they failed to erase his memories, there would be hell to pay. Magneto doubted that even he could stop him knowing that there was Adamantium in his body that he could control.

He now ordered his doctors to start the final phase. They would try their most powerful probing techniques to erase is memories. If they pushed too hard, too fast, they would completely fry his brain and he would be useless. But if they tried too softly, they would never get through. But they had tried to ease their way in by following the similar path the mind protection techniques has been assimilated into.

Harry Potter slowly overcame the dizziness that fogged his brain. He felt someone trying to probe his memories like a legilimens. He immediately tried to put up his meager Occlumency shields that he had read about. To his surprise he found a wealth of knowledge available to him to stop mental intrusions. He was sure he had never read them or even heard of them before. They seemed like muggle techniques. But combined with his meager knowledge of Occlumency, it was more than enough to completely block out the mental probes.

Then his memories and new knowledge hit him all at once. He remembered talking to Dumbledore and resolving some of the issues between them and the feeling of family. He remembered killing his cousin and aunt. Then Hedwig was killed by his uncle. Then he remembered pain and rage. The last thing he remembered was brilliant black fire and a tremendous release.

Then all the new knowledge rushed in. Fighting techniques and knowledge of weapons came in first. Survival techniques and behavior in combat situations along with knowledge of intimidation and torture filtered into his brain.

His senses screamed danger to him as he assimilated the input from his senses. He was immersed in some liquid and there were tubes and wires attached to various points of his body. He was completely naked and he had a breathing mask on. There was something in his system that was trying to drug him to sleep. He fought against it and sat up breaking some of the tubes and wires.

He hastily removed his breathing mask and all the tubes and wires connected to his body. When he opened his eyes, he could see extraordinarily clearly. He was in a glass tank filled with green liquid. His nose caught smell of disinfectants and medicine. He heard the frantic beeping of many machines and people shouting. Beyond that, he caught smell of hot metal and the scents of people near him.

He stood up and examined his body disregarding the people momentarily. Then he remembered his bone claws, however bizarre they were. He tried thinking of a way to bring them back out when metal claws popped out of both his hands between the knuckles. He examined them closely and struck them together. There was a line of sparks but the metal wasn't dulled and there was absolutely no damage. However bizarre or freaky it was, he liked his new claws. They were cool.

His head snapped to the man in brown, magenta and pink armor. Pink! This guy was crazy. He also wore a helmet of the same color. He had piercing blue eyes that reminded him a bit of grandpa Albus. He wondered what was happening. Where was grandpa? He had told him that he would take him the next day. How long was he here? He noted that his surroundings were too highly advanced to be wizard related. He guessed that he was in muggle environment.

Magneto on the other hand didn't know if the probe was successful or not. He was alarmed when the boy removed all the tubes and wires before he could be sedated again. He watched the boy when he curiously examined his claws. He decided to approach the boy and talk to him. He could always restrain him since he had Adamantium in his body.

Harry looked at the new man curiously and asked "Who are you?"

"I am known as Magneto child. I am a mutant." He said.

"What is a mutant?" Harry interrupted.

"Mutants are the future. We are the next phase in the evolution of mankind. We are Homo-Superior. We are all born with gifts that usually surface when we undergo puberty. We are the results of a modification in the X-gene in out DNA. Our powers vary widely. There are shape shifters, teleporters, telepaths, telekinetics, pyrokinetics, people who control the various elements like magma, water, air, people who can run faster than a bullet, people who are stronger than any animal on earth, people who have wings, ability to manipulate light, energy and many others. I myself have the ability to control magnetism. I can control the movement and anything regarding any metal in existence." Magneto told him passionately.

"You my child are probably the strongest of us all. You have the ability to singularly force mankind on its knees before us. You can win us the war for freedom that I and my brotherhood are fighting. From the ashes of mankind's destruction, we can build a new world free of oppression and ridicule. Mutants can roam free without prosecution or fear. There will be equality for all. There will be peace. So tell me child, will you join me and help me bring the mankind to its knees and build a new world?"

Harry looked at him incredulously. Did he hear this guy talking about incredible powers and a big war? It seemed like he was stuck in a science fiction novel. He was a mutant? What was that about X-gene and DNA? He had only heard of DNA once on Discover TV last year while trying to listen to news.

He took in the absurdity of what this person was saying and began laughing hysterically. "You… You are telling me… Mutant… ha ha… Bring the world to its knees… me? Magnetism… stronger and faster than animals… Are you kidding me?" he choked out between laughs.

In return, Magneto held out his hand and Harry was lifted off the floor. He stopped laughing abruptly and asked "It is real? Holy shit!"

He couldn't believe it. It was almost like discovering another wizarding world. But wait a minute. He must have metal inside him for this Magneto guy to lift him up. "How did you lift me up? I should have metal inside me for you to be able to do that. I didn't feel any force near my claws so there must be some more metal inside me."

"You are a clever child. Of course there is metal inside you. A metal so strong that it is unbreakable by any means. It is known as Adamantium. Your whole skeleton is lined with it." Magneto explained.

"How did that happen? I know that I didn't have it before and that my bones were broken plenty of times before." Harry demanded.

Magneto sighed and said "We did the procedure to help you. It would help you utilize your potential to the utmost degree. It was not dangerous at all." This was getting nowhere and he didn't know if the boy remembered everything. The body often remembered previous injuries but memories were a different matter.

Harry narrowed his eyes and asked coldly "Do you call lacing your skull with a metal not dangerous? You had better start explaining mister."

"I do hope you would join me in our quest to rid the world of Charles Xavier and his X-Men child. Do you know your name? It is sometimes traumatic when a mutant undergoes puberty." Asked Magneto completely ignoring Harry's question.

"I do know who I am, thank you very much. I don't know about his Xavier fellow but you sure are crazy. You sound just like another homicidal maniac and his merry band of followers I know. I do not take kindly to someone kidnapping me and forcing their idiotic propaganda on me. I am standing here naked away from my home because of you. I suspect you had to do something with all this. You had better get me home or you will regret it." Harry said frostily. He was getting angry but didn't want to let go. Black fog was condensing around him unknown to him as he crossed his arms with his claws hanging out.

Magneto saw the tell tale signs of energy being unveiled as the equipments and lights started to flicker. So the boy had retained his memories and was against his principles. It was alarming to learn that he had faced off against a homicidal maniac and his followers and was still alive. He could not let this kind of powerful mutant get away from him. He simply had to have his weapon.

Magneto let his façade of a charismatic leader fall and raised his hand and held the boy in place magnetically. He signaled to the cowering doctors to administer the sedative on him.

Harry felt the constrictive feeling of being held in place. He saw the doctors emerge and looking around for in some medical packs. He snarled at Magneto and tried to move. But he was stuck. He was getting angrier. He felt it again, the feeling of immense energy available to him. He tried to form a shield around him and to his surprise, he saw the blue shield similar to a Protego shield. The feeling stopped and he dropped to the ground landing in a crouch.

He observed the shield again and wondered if it was wandless magic that he had seen grandpa perform. He decided to try it out. He held out his hand in front of him and thought of the incantation of Reducto. No sooner had he thought of the word, the blasting curse came out of his palm and crashed through the shield and hit Magneto. It was so cool. He could do wandless magic like grandpa. Oh he was going to have fun with these people. They dared to kidnap him did they?

He thought of a spell to turn the doctors into rats. He didn't know any spell but when he saw them, they were already turned into rats. So he didn't even need to know the spell. All he had to do was think of the effects he needed and it would happen. It was like making a wish and seeing it happen.

As he looked back at Magneto, he saw him raise his hand and numerous metal things fly at him. "I will make you my weapon boy. You will serve me if it the last thing you do." He screamed.

Harry smirked and formed a Protegoshield. He extended it to cover his whole body. He spoke teasingly "Is the bad man unhappy that he can't control a teeny weeny boy like me?"

"How can you block me boy? I am the master of magnetism." Magneto asked as he directed more metallic materials to fly at him hitting the shield.

Harry simply smirked and told him coldly "You have no idea what you are dealing with. I have faced more dangerous criminals than you and they are yet to defeat me. I can do things that you cannot even dream about. You wear a silly little piece of armor and think you are great? I have faced a man so evil that people don't even dare to speak his name. I have faced creatures than can induce your worst nightmares. You made a huge mistake in choosing me as your enemy. Be thankful that my grandfather didn't find you. I am not so sure what condition you would be in if he had."

"Think you can defeat me boy? I have killed thousands with a single thought…" Magneto started but was cut off by Harry.

Harry said "Then I won't feel bad about doing this." He launched himself at Magneto and cut both his hands through the armor with his claws. The metal parts stopped flying and Magneto screamed and collapsed. Harry sheathed his claws and removed Magneto's helmet. He saw a white haired man whose eyes held extreme hatred for him.

He smirked and told him "I firmly believe that the people who have wronged you should punish you. It is their right to judge you. You are simply a bitter old man with a bit of power who wants to terrorize people. I detest people like you. I don't have time to deliver you to justice as I have important matters to look to. After I have finished, if I still have time, I will come back to collect you if you are still alive and free. See you."

Harry thought about conjuring some underwear, jeans, t-shirt and boots and they appeared before him. He put them on and exited the cave like structure.

He saw that he was on the side of a mountain with lust green forests covering the mountain. He had to get back home. He didn't know to apparate and didn't want to try now. He didn't want to get splinched. He was not an animagus to fly or run. He could transfigure himself wings but he knew he couldn't work them. He saw a path down to the forest but there were no vehicles nearby. He slowly began to jog along the path hoping it would lead to some city.

As he was jogging, he found that he had a higher stamina than he remembered. He could also run faster without exerting himself. He thought of things that had happened as he continued along the path. His dear Hedwig was killed. He would never see her again. He hoped that the fire he had somehow caused hadn't destroyed his wand or his other belongings. His father's invisibility cloak and Marauder's map were invaluable. But the most important thing was the photo album of his parents. Books and clothes were of no consequence. He couldn't exactly remember what had happened. He had thought 'Burn in Hell Vernon.' Oh! Somehow this new wandless capability of his had set fire to the house. But wasn't he burnt? And he was shot multiple times by that shotgun. He knew that among muggles it took a long time to heal from wounds like that. And yet he was fine. How long was he gone for? He had to figure it out soon.

His senses were somehow enhanced to a very high degree. He could hear sounds from far away and the small sounds made in the forest. The fresh small of plants and water was refreshing. He could also smell blood faintly, both from some animal in the forest and from Magneto. He could make out small differences between plants and bushes that he was sure would have gone unnoticed before. What had happened to him?

He smelled some animal ahead and heard muted padding of paws. He stopped and popped his claws. A few drops of blood emerged from his knuckles but the wound was healed until it covered the claws at the base. He looked silently at the place where he heard sounds from. He spotted two yellow eyes of a cat in the bushes. He was vary of it and prepared to defend himself if the cat attacked.

From the bushes emerged a huge cat. It was around four feet tall and about seven feet long. It was completely covered in black fur. He was sure it was bloody powerful. It had muscled legs and strong and big body. It looked like an enlarged version of a black panther.

It looked at him curiously directly into his eyes. Wait a minute? Curiously? How did he know that? He was surprised when he felt something brushing against his mental shields. Being curious, he lowered his shields.

He was shocked when a male voice asked him "Who are you human?" in his mind.

He looked around frantically and asked out loud "Who is there?"

He heard the male voice now filled with amusement "Silly human. I am standing right in front of you. Arrogant humans. Thinking only humans could converse with other beings."

Harry was shocked. First some whacko kidnaps him and tells him he has put metal in your body and says that you are a mutant. Then he tries to make you his weapon. And then you meet panthers that can talk to you mentally.

"Am I dreaming?" Harry asked to himself.

"Of course not." The voice scoffed. "I am the big cat in front of you and yes I can talk."

"But how?" asked Harry out loud.

"I can hear you just fine if you think the question in your mind. There is no need to shout out your words."The voice said. "You must be a wizard then."

"Yes" tried Harry saying mentally.

"That's better. I am what you wizards call a Syrian Cat. Our species have always been elusive and have never preferred to mingle with wizards. I was separated from my parents shortly after my birth in a storm. I have lived here ever since." The cat said.

"This is amazing." Exclaimed Harry.

"I find you worthy. I am getting bored here and I wish to be your familiar. Do you accept?" asked the cat.

"Yes. I would be honored." Replied Harry.

The cat's voice sounded pleased when it spoke mentally "All you have to do is look at me in the eyes and not stop the mental push you will receive. After the bonding, you can put up your mental shields and we will still be able to converse like this. Now look at me in the eyes."

Harry looked into its eyes. He felt a strong mental push and resisted the reflex action to slam his shields in place. He felt that mental push settle and the presence disappear. Contrary to what he thought, it was comforting to have a companion in his mind. "This is great. Me name is Harry Potter. What is your name?" he asked mentally.

"You can call me Rexar or Rex." The cat replied.

"So Rex, how can we do this?" he asked.

"Wizards or humans as a whole do not know much about us. The wizards that discovered us thought us to be bigger version of the common muggle black panther with a little bit of magic in us. But we are so much more. As you know now, we are telepathic. We can create n invisible portal to any place we have been before. That is why we have never been caught either by muggles or by wizards. We can also transform into a larger form with defensive capability during fights." Rex explained.

"Can you show me?"asked Harry. Rex began to grow in front of his eyes. While he was big before, he was huge now. He was at least six feet tall and ten feet long. His whole body was covered in scales and he had gained more wolf-like features. His snout was long like a wolf and body structure resembled a wolf but the spiked tail was like a panther. He was at eye level to Harry and that was saying something. "Wow!" Harry exclaimed mentally.

While Harry was admiring him, Rex was examining the recent memories of Harry through their bond. He noted some of the things Harry has heard subconsciously but had not acknowledged it consciously yet, especially regarding his mutant abilities. "You are pretty special too Harry." Rex told him.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"Now don't be angry. I know you don't like people going through your memories but I am no person. I am your familiar and I had to know more to help you. I promise I won't tell anyone. What I found was that during the time you were kidnapped, you subconsciously heard many things. These are in regards to you being a mutant. You see Harry, what Magneto said was partly right. You are a very powerful mutant. You can heal very fast. Apparently there was someone who had undergone this procedure against his will like named Wolverine some time before. Your senses are four times more sharper than him and your healing factor is four times more potent. The strange power that Magneto didn't understand is probably magic. It seems like your mutant ability is magic itself. I don't know what this means but as you found out you can now do wandless magic pretty easily. I think you can do any magic easily now. Its all based on your will now. If you will something to happen, it will. I also found out that Magneto kidnapped you from your home a week ago to make you his weapon to take over the world. He implanted knowledge of fighting, survival and torture into your brain. He removed your broken bone claws and replaced them with Adamantium claws. As he said, Adamantium is unbreakable. The Adamantium was purified by him and it is twice as strong as the Adamantium in Wolverine's body. I think it will even resist magic. You can try channeling or pushing your magic through that sometime and check it out. Your skeleton is laced with Adamantium and thus your bones are also unbreakable. Charles Xavier seems to his enemy who is stopping him from world domination. He is also a mutant but he didn't say what kind." Rex explained patiently.

At first Harry was angry and then he accepted it. It made some weird sense. He tried pushing magic through his claws and nothing happened. It made sense that he could feel his magic now and do some incredible things with it. He wondered what his limits were. He would test it out soon. "But where are we? I want to go home. Grandpa will be worried."

"Right now we are in America." Rex replied.

"America! How will we get back to England?" Harry exclaimed.

"We can go by muggle metal birds or you can use magic." Rex told him.

"We can go by airplanes. I can disillusion you and create a ticket or something. But it is a hassle. I can't apparate. I can't create portkeys. Maybe I can wrap the magic around us and fly us to England. Hey Rex, can't you create a portal to England by taking the picture from my mind? And can you take me along with you?" Harry asked excitedly.

"I think it might work. Yes I can carry you with me if you are touching me when I pass through. I have not gone through all your memories yet. So can I go through them and then take you somewhere? Besides if I know your enemies and friends, I can help you better." Asked Rex.

"Okay." Harry agreed reluctantly. He didn't feel anything when Rex went through his memories. He didn't even realize that he did that. It was good too as he didn't want to relive some of the memories.

"Wow. You are one tough kid Harry. You have a lot to do yet and I will help to the best of my ability. I think you should contact that Charles Xavier and tell him not to bother you. I noticed that Magneto found you using a system called Cerebro and Xavier also has one. You using magic will not be detected otherwise all wizards would have been mutants. Try using your healing ability and he might pick up on you. As strong as you are, you are sure to get noticed." Rex advised.

"Okay." Harry said and popped only his right hand's middle claw. He cut his left forearm with it and watched fascinated as it healed before his eyes in seconds.

"Do it again. It was too fast and I though I felt something." Rex told him.

Harry cut his left arm a bit deeper and longer than before. This wound also disappeared within seconds. Harry felt a mental presence invading his shields. He asked Rex "Did you feel that? Who is that?"

"Shh... Its Xavier and he is a telepath. Keep up your shields. I am talking to him posing myself as you and telling him to leave you alone. He is trying to coerce you into joining his school for mutants but I have told him you have things to do. He has reluctantly agreed and promised to keep the government off your back." Rex told him while communicating with Xavier.

"Okay Rex. Open up a portal to Grimmauld Place. We are most likely to find someone there." Harry informed Rex.

He watched curiously as a there was a ripple in the air in front of him. There was nothing exactly visible apart from slight distortion. He held onto Rex's neck as they walked into the portal.

Albus Dumbledore's soul was carried by Fawkes to an inexplicable area. He did not know how long it took them to get here. The concept of time was washed away along with his body. He could not make out any color or any surrounding around him. All he knew was that he was covered and surrounded by pure magic. It was a very powerful experience. Never in all his life had he felt so miniscule and unimportant.

A presence seemed to brush his awareness asking for his reason to come here.

He had no mouth so he couldn't speak literally. He knew how to communicate though. His whole being was one now. He 'spoke' to the presence from his soul "I am here for my judgment. I hope you find me worthy enough to let me help Harry Potter attain a happy life."

"We have seen your life Albus Dumbledore and we are pleased. You are a selfless being who had endured much sorrow like Harry Potter. Yet you have strived to make people's lives better. You are an exemplary human being. But do you really wish to help Harry Potter? Do wish to wish to help him attain a happy life or do you wish to help him until he fulfills his destiny?" the presence asked.

"He is like a grandson to me. I wish to help him until he attains a happy life." Dumbledore replied instantly.

"May I offer the judgment of Phoenix for Albus Dumbledore?" Fawkes asked in a musical voice.

"Are you sure it is wise Fawkes? Would you give up your life for a human to enable him to be a phoenix?" the presence asked.

Before Fawkes could respond, Dumbledore broke in with an awed but resigned voice "I do not deserve such honor Fawkes. I only wished I could be a spirit or a ghost to guide Harry. You are an ancient and wise being who shouldn't waste your life for me."

"This just proves my point." Said Fawkes majestically. "I have lived for countless centuries. I have seen the rise and fall of many kingdoms since I was hatched. But I had never bonded to a human until I met you. You were the purest person I met before Harry Potter. By pure I meant not by the magics you use or the methods you use. Both of your strengths were always in your purity of intentions. Harry Potter may very well turn out to be the best killer ever seen in mankind and yet he will be pure. He may be ruthless and unmerciful to his enemies but like you, he would never harm an innocent. You deserve this Albus, my friend. Do not deprive me of my last wish."

"Indeed Albus Dumbledore, we agree." The presence announced.

"Thank you. I am honored and I shall strive to help people as much as I can." Said a very grateful Dumbledore.

"By our power, we give you the right of a Royal Phoenix. You arrival back on earth would herald the fall of darkness. It shall be a while till you can return there for you have to learn the magic of phoenixes. Being a Royal Phoenix should also give you some advantages. Look after you charge Dumbledore for he is a blessed child. He did not deserve what has happened to him and it is now your duty to ensure that he has a happy life."

"Thank you. But could you tell me when I might be able to get back? I do not want to leave him alone for long." Asked Dumbledore politely.

Fawkes musical voice replied laughingly "Do not fret my friend. For anyone else, it would have taken a year or more but like Harry, you are a brilliant wizard. You shall make an exceptional phoenix. I doubt it would even take you three or four months to master the ways of a phoenix. In the meantime, young Harry has found himself a worthy familiar to help him along."

"Thank you all" said a very overwhelmed and relieved Dumbledore.

Harry and Rex arrived at the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix to find it empty. They searched every room and still couldn't find anyone. Harry found the scent of Remus in one of the basement rooms. He was sure that it was his scent but it was a bit faded. Rex told him that it was at least five days old. An impromptu lesson was given by Rex to identify scents and pick up scent trails. He was taught how to determine approximately how old the scent was.

Harry was surprised he could even do this. Rex pointed out to him that his senses were four times sharper than Wolverine's, who ever he was. Now, Harry's senses were almost the same if not better than a wolf's.

Harry was at a loss why no one was there at headquarters. From the lack of scent, he deduced that no one had come to the headquarters in at least five days. This was very confusing. He decided to find out something from Tom at the Leaky Cauldron. Being the bartender, Tom usually heard stuff and he subscribed to the Daily Prophet.

But he couldn't go like he was without being recognized. And he just couldn't take a four foot cat everywhere. People would panic at the very sight of Rex. He covered Rex with a layer of his magic and made it invisible. He observed that his magic had a grayish black color. It was a relief that it was that color and not emerald green. Sure he loved the color because of his mother's eyes but it was annoying when they associated everything in that color with him. For his disguise, he pushed some magic into hair and lengthened it. He made it a sandy brown color and put an illusion around his eyes to make it blue colored. He tried to cover his scar with an illusion but it was dispelled. So he put a patch of his magic and put a coloring charming with the color of his skin on it. It was an ingenious idea if he said so himself.

Preparations done, he asked Rex to open up a portal near the entrance to Diagon Alley. When he arrived, he instructed Rex to remain as unobtrusive as possible and made his way back to the bar. He asked Tom for a butterbeer and requested the previous week's newspapers. Tom was a bit curious so he told him that he was out of the country for the last week.

Tom came back with the butterbeer and the newspapers. Before going, Tom sympathetically told him to not get disheartened after reading the papers.

Harry was confused why said that but when he saw the paper for the day after he had disappeared, he knew why. In bold letters, they detailed the attacks made by Voldemort (papers didn't print his name however). When he read about the attacks, he was shocked. The Prophet had covered that all his close friends who had accompanied him to the Department of Mysteries and their families were attacked. They explained in vivid detail along with gory pictures of the Grangers, Weasleys, Longbottoms and Lovegoods. They said that Lovegoods destroyed their home and sacrificed themselves to take out the death eaters but they didn't know how they had accomplished that. The paper also said that Ginny was the only survivor of the massacre and she was turned into a werewolf. They mentioned that she was held in St. Mungos as she was suffering from silver poisoning.

The next blow was the article beside that which stated that Albus Dumbledore was dead. They reported the epic battle of Hampshire where Dumbledore and his friends fought against Voldemort himself and his death eaters. The paper said that Voldemort himself had ordered one of his death eaters to give the complete report of the battle to the press. The death eater that had given them the report was unidentified as were the death eaters. But the gist of the battle was reported.

The battle was more like a massacre with Dumbledore's friends whom he identified as Order of the Phoenix, dieing one by one. The death eaters had vastly outnumbered Dumbledore and his friends. The Order members were killed one by one until only Dumbledore remained. Even the death eaters had not held back his awe at the skill and power of Dumbledore. The clash of Voldemort and Dumbledore was detailed. Then the arrival of death eaters who were supposed to fetch him. They then told about the wandless capability of Dumbledore and the fight that followed. There was mention of the spy who Dumbledore thought was on his side but was a true death eater all along. Harry immediately knew it was Snape as he was the only spy in the Order. Then they told about the last battle of Dumbledore and his vanishing with a burst of pure white light. His body was not found and he was believed to be dead.

The front page also contained the article about his disappearance. They reported the mysterious crater where his house used to stand on Privet Drive. He didn't know how that had happened. Then there were speculations about his disappearance. Some said that he had run away while other said that he was kidnapped. Some even said that he had joined the dark lord and abandoned the wizarding world. They were rubbish of course but what could you expect from the Daily Prophet.

He scanned the article of Dumbledore's death again looking for names of the deceased. He noted that almost all the members of the Order of the Phoenix were listed there. Only Tonks, Remus and Kingsley were not mentioned.

He also noted a small article saying that dementors had abandoned Azkaban and all the criminals were free. The death eaters captured at the Department of Mysteries were also free now.

This was a mind numbing shock to him. Rex had read the article though him. Even Rex couldn't get him out of the grief induced shock. Harry was supposed to be with is grandfather now. He was supposed to apologize to Ron and Hermione for his irrational behavior for the last days of the previous term. The twins were supposed to prank him and the other Order members were supposed to train his friends and upgrade the wards around their homes. Ron, Hermione, Moody, McGonagall, Bill, Charlie, Fred, George, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Dung, Fleur, Luna, Neville, Hagrid, the other Order members were all dead. He couldn't believe it. But the worst shock came with the supposed death of his adopted grandfather, Dumbledore. This was simply not supposed to happen. Some part of his mind knew that Dumbledore would never flee from a fight whatever the odds. But he still hoped that he was alive so that they could avenge all the others together.

He almost had nothing to live for now. There were only few people he cared for alive. The Dursleys were dead and they were not people that he ever cared about. Tonks was like a big sister to him. She was fun and joked around. Remus was like an uncle to him and felt close to him as he was the last of his parents' friends alive. He didn't know Kingsley very well but he respected the man. Ginny was the only remaining Weasley. He held a great deal of affection for her. She had provided him support when he needed it and now she was in St. Mungos suffering due to silver poisoning. It didn't matter to him that she was turned to a werewolf. But there was no one else left. Other students at Hogwarts were acquaintances or rivals. He had never in his wildest nightmares imagined that it would come to this.

He quickly scanned through all the other newspapers. The attacks had continued daily and hundreds of muggles were dead and many wizarding families were killed. Notable witches and wizards among the ones killed were Amelia Bones, Zabini, Boot, Diggory and Greengrass families. He only knew that Zabini and Greengrass families were neutral families and their children were in Slytherin in his year though he never recalled who they were.

The other notable news was that a new minister of magic was elected. His name was Rufus Scrimgeour and he was from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. He had promised to end the reign of Voldemort. He said that he was sad about losing such gallant witches and wizards but that the ministry would overcome any hurdle. He had already passed laws to hold any suspected death eater in custody until a trail could be arranged. This was somewhat good but at the same time disturbing. With the corruption in the Ministry, Harry was almost sure that many innocents would be scapegoats. In a side note, it was mentioned that Percy Weasley who had lost his family was appointed as the chief secretary to the minister and that he told the press he had every faith in the new minister.

Harry was disgusted that Percy was looking to gain favor in the Ministry by using his family's death. The aurors were supposed to patrol all busy areas and be more proactive towards law breakers. He was thoroughly disgruntled that when they were needed most of the might of the massacre, they were guarding some idiotic ministry officials.

He was grief stricken by all the news. But his depression and grief immediately turned into anger. The Ministry people were again simply trying to save themselves and all his friends were dead due to Voldemort. Oh he was going to pay. He would not rest until Voldemort was done for. He would hunt them all down one by one. He would tear them apart piece by piece and make them suffer for all the things they had caused. He would reserve special punishment for Snape, Voldemort and his inner circle who were rumored to have led the attacks against his friends.

Harry Potter was going to war.

Harry paid Tom and was about to go into Diagon Alley when he remembered he didn't have a wand anymore. Then he realized he didn't need it anymore. He waited until no one was nearby and tapped the correct brick and pushed a bit of magic through his finger. The portal to Diagon Alley opened up.

He was checked by the aurors and cleared. What kind of security was that? His illusion and Rex passed without triggering any suspicion from the aurors. If this were the case, no wonder Voldemort was winning. Granted it may be because of was his magic and not conventional magic but they should have still detected something. Being ignorant of muggles, he may have easily gotten away with a muggle disguise. It was a comforting thought that death eaters at least would never 'lower' themselves to using muggle methods.

He directly went to the port office and wrote a letter to Remus. He tried hard to not thing of Hedwig while doing so and barely succeeded in keeping away the tears. At first when he entered with Rex, all the birds started screeching in fear. The scent was also overwhelming. The owner of the post office thankfully gave him some parchment and quill to write outside the office. Then he took the letter and posted it. Harry and Rex were not required to go inside at all. But even when they were standing outside, their sharp hearing could pick up the panicked screeching of the birds even through the silencing charm.

He left to the meeting place asking Rex to open the portal away from prying eyes.

Remus Lupin was watching guard over Ginny Weasley who was still suffering from random bouts of silver poisoning every few hours. The healers were not all that helpful because she was now a werewolf. They only provided pain relief potions and sleeping potions. They didn't even consider curing her from silver poisoning. It was extremely lucky that Remus was a werewolf and he was the bookish type. He had read up on all spells to heal silver poisoning. He healed her every time another bout occurred.

He did not know why she was being poisoned again and again. He didn't know of any curse to do that. The healers might have known something but they weren't helping. On top of that, they were insisting of payment of hospital charges every day. It was beginning to cut into his and Tonks' savings. But it was the least they could do for the daughter of Molly and Arthur. They simply couldn't abandon her.

Remus Lupin was desperate for some help. Albus Dumbledore would have known something to help her but he was now believed to be dead. It was a very heavy blow to the light side. Even the reports in the newspaper were not clear. The only thing that was clear was that he should have trusted his inner wolf when it told him not to trust Severus Snape. He was the traitor who had led to death of nearly the whole Order. Only Kingsley, Tonks and he were remaining.

The other thing that struck his heart was Harry's disappearance. It was unbelievable that there was only a crater where his relatives' house used to be. He couldn't even begin to guess how that could have happened. There was absolutely no news about Harry for the past week. He had already failed his promise to James and Lily so many times. He didn't think he could live with himself if Harry too was dead.

He was brought out of his thoughts by an owl flying in through the owl chute in the ceiling. He relieved the letter from the owl and it went away.

It was addressed to Remus John Lupin.

He opened the letter and read it, his hopes soaring once more.

Moony,

Meet me at your old howling place, where we confronted the bat and the rat. Time and tide waits for none.

'Dog'son.

He was overjoyed. Harry was okay and he wanted to meet him immediately. He quickly made sure that Ginny was sleeping and sent a message to Tonks through his Patronus like the Order used to do. He left the ward hurriedly to reach the Shrieking Shack.

Harry was waiting patiently with Rex for Remus to appear. He had conjured himself a chair in the same room where they had confronted Peter. He was absently scratching Rex between his ears when Remus apparated before him with a crack.

He was quickly picked up in a strong hug. He was sure that if it weren't for his Adamantium enhanced bones, he would have had a cracked rib or two. Remus sniffed the air and suddenly stiffened.

Remus put Harry behind him and said "Stay behind me Harry there is some cat here. I can smell it."

Harry smacked his head and replied "Its ok Remus. Its only Rex. I had made him invisible when I went to the port office and I forgot to take it off."

He waved his hand and Rex appeared before them. Remus reflexively took a step back from fright crashing into Harry. They both tumbled to the floor in a heap. "What is that?" Remus asked fearfully.

Harry extracted himself from the floor and answered "That my dear friend is a Syrian Cat named Rexar who is also my familiar." Harry had frankly forgotten that Remus had very good nose and ears being a werewolf. Now that he thought about it, Remus smelled a lot like a wolf but there was also a different smell on him that he couldn't place.

"A Syrian Cat! But they are thought to be a legend!" Remus exclaimed.

"Nope. Rex is 100 percent Syrian Cat." Harry replied grinning.

"Its huge." Remus said eloquently.

"Yes he's huge. Yes he has claws and sharp teeth and a tail. Sheesh! You are acting as though you have seen Merlin or something Remus." Harry said sarcastically.

Remus had regained his wits by then. Being a scholarly sort of person, it was fascinating to meet a Cyrian Cat but there were a lot more important things to think about now. He conjured himself a chair and sat down heavily. "You don't know how wonderful it is to see you Harry. I thought I had lost everyone. Ginny is in hospital and Kingsley is working overtime at the Ministry. Tonks and I are trying to keep and eye on Ginny but it if difficult. She has to work and they don't let me stay for too long at the hospital."

He went to describe the problem ailing Ginny and the minimal help from the hospital staff. He also told his deductions that Snape was a traitor. He told Harry that the Burrow was leveled and the charred bodies were buried near the Burrow's clearing. He also told that the bodies of various Order members were taken care of. He also informed Harry that the Grangers and Longbottoms were buried with the Weasleys.

Harry was beyond angry hearing the treatment of the hospital staff. He was sad about the deaths and burials of the Order members. He was grateful that Remus had taken care of all the burials. Harry then told Remus about what all he had learnt about him being a mutant and his powers. He explained his bonding to Rex and the changes in him. He popped his claws out to show it to Remus. Remus was a bit overwhelmed by the news and the changes. But soon, he had to agree with Harry that having all these were cool as per Harry's words. The claws unnerved him a bit when Harry used them to cut through one of the support columns cleanly without any apparent effort.

Harry decided that Ginny didn't need to stay at St. Mungos if they weren't going to treat her. He and Remus made their way to the Three Broomsticks to floo to St Mungos.

Harry who had removed his disguise at the Shack was immediately bombarded with questions at soon as he stepped into the lobby. The hospital staff and the other people who were waiting were asking him questions unrelentingly. He concentrated on the effect of a Sonorus charm and bellowed "QUIET".

He was thankful he had told Rex to stay behind. It would have caused even more havoc and confusion. Once they had all shut up, he spoke angrily "What is it with you people? Am I some sort of a deity to solve all your problems? Yes I had been kidnapped. No, I won't tell you where I was taken or how I escaped. But could you all for once shut up and do your jobs? Healers are supposed to help people no matter who they are and you are refusing to help one of my close friends just because she is a werewolf. And you are also harassing good people who are trying to do your job. What if she is a werewolf? Is she going to get up from her bed and eat you? The man beside me is Remus Lupin and he is a werewolf. I trust him completely and so did my parents. He is one of the most intelligent people I know and he has fought against Voldemort (gasps and shrieks) for many years."

"You can't even hear let alone speak his name. How are you all supposed to stand against him when he comes after your family if you are afraid to even say his name? I sometimes wonder if fighting him is worth it when all of you are nothing but a bunch of cowards." He finished and stormed towards Ginny's ward leaving behind a gaping crowd.

Harry was very angry and he struggled to control himself from lashing out at everyone in his path. When he neared Ginny's ward, he spotted the new minister Rufus Scrimgeour and Percy Weasley outside the door seemingly waiting for him.

As he approached, the minister spoke to him gently "Mr. Potter, could I have a word?"

Harry stopped and crossed his arms making a very intimidating pose. "Say it minister. I don't have time or the patience for politicians right now."

The minister's eyes hardened and he spoke stiffly "Alright boy. With Dumbledore now dead, it would be best if you join with the ministry. You can assure the public that the ministry is going to combat the dark lord and his followers. Rumors have flown around about a prophecy… whispers about you being the chosen one…"

He was stopped by a harsh laughter from Harry. Harry spoke coldly "You want me to be a poster boy for the ministry? You can't even speak his name and you are telling to assure the pubic that you will fight him? You have a very active imagination minister."

The minister suddenly softened his features and spoke calmly "Now doesn't be hasty Harry. People think you are a hero – which is true of course, chosen one or not. The idea that there might be someone destined to take down the dark lord, it gives the people a lift. And I can't help but feel that once you realize this, you might consider it, well, almost a duty to stand beside the ministry and give everyone a boost."

Harry smirked dangerously "You ministry idiots never learn do you? Fudge should have been an example enough. You should have all listened to Dumbledore when he was willing to offer you advice. Now you want to give people false hopes while doing nothing worthwhile. I passed though your aurors in disguise without being detected. Is that the security you have to offer? Dumbledore would have helped put this all behind us if you had helped him in the past."

Scrimgeour's eyes were cold and hard behind his wire-rimmed glasses, "Dumbledore's man through and through aren't you Potter?"

"Yes I am." Harry agreed without any hesitation and mocked "Glad you are intelligent enough to make that out at least."

"Tell me if you are the chosen one boy. The ministry can train you and you can help the ministry defeat the He Who Must Not Be Named." Scrimgeour said coldly.

Harry smirked again and replied coldly "I will never require the ministry's help. Destiny or no, I will kill your dark lord. I will hunt down every one of his followers and Voldemort will learn what a mistake he made in crossing me."

"You can't take the law into your own hands. I will have you arrested." Proclaimed the minister.

Harry moved suddenly and lifting the minister by his throat, he slammed him against the wall and held him up by his throat. He brought his right hand in front of the minister's face and popped open his right and left claws. He watched as the minister's eyes bugged out and slowly extended the middle claw until it almost touched the minister between his eyes. He absently noticed that Percy was stopped by Remus. He told him coldly, his face devoid of any expression "You really don't want to stand in my way minister. If you cross me, you will rue the day you heard the name Potter."

He released the wide eyed minister who sagged down the wall. The minister shouted fearfully "Holy Merlin! What kind of an animal freak are you Potter?"

Harry now grinned ferally and said "I am the weapon that will destroy Voldemort and his followers. Now don't get any ideas about using this against me. Our little tête-à-tête will stay between us. You are welcome to try of course but I think you won't like the consequences of the curse I placed on you. Good day minister."

He turned to Percy who was held at wand point by Remus. "You are a pathetic person 'Weatherby'. You do not deserve to be a Weasley. You didn't even visit your sister until now and never bothered to check up if she was getting proper treatment or not. I also heard that you didn't even bother with your family's burial. You deserve to be with the idiots at the ministry. Go enjoy your moment of fame Percy."

He indicated Remus to leave him and follow him inside. Once they were inside, he slammed the doors closed and locked them with is magic.

He saw the pale face of Ginny contorted in pain. She was hurting even in her sleep. He called Rex mentally and asked him to come to the ward. On the suggestion of Remus, Harry directed some of his magic to his eyes thinking of seeing magic. Immediately, he could see magic all around him. The bed, chairs and the room all flashed different colors. Rex had a black aura around him and Remus had a brownish gold aura. He could see the grayish black color of his magic against the door. He turned back to Ginny and gasped at what he saw.

Ginny was wreathed in brilliant red flame like aura. A putrid yellow colored magic flowed through her body. He guessed it to be the cause of her illness. He tried to send his magic to heal her but his magic didn't even touch the yellow magic. Then he realized the curse was flowing through her blood. Disregarding the exclamation of surprise from Remus, he cut her wrist with one of his claws and pushed his magic through the blood vessel. He was satisfied to see the yellow magic being destroyed whenever it came in contact with his grayish black magic. When all the curse magic color was gone from her blood, he retracted his magic from her blood and healed her wrist.

When he looked at her now without the discoloration of the curse he was spell bound. He felt faint stirrings in his heart when he noticed the peaceful expression on Ginny's face. Her red flame like aura around her gave her an ethereal look. Her pale face was accentuated by her vivid red hair and aura. She was like dream, an unimaginable being of untold beauty.

He shook himself and cancelled the magic in his eyes. He asked Rex to open a portal to the Shrieking Shack again for the time being. He picked up Ginny gently and asked Remus to keep touching Rex to pass through the portal.

Ginny woke up the next day. She cried the whole day thinking about the torture and the deaths she had witnessed. Harry tried his best to comfort her but she was inconsolable. Tonks was also called in. Once Ginny clamed down a bit, Harry told his story to them and heard Ginny's and Tonks' perspective. Harry wanted Kingsley there as well but he was busy. Tonks told him that she would inform Kingsley.

They all moved to a cabin near some woods in Scotland which was gifted to Sirius by Harry's grandparents. Remus informed him that Harry's grandparents loved Sirius like a son and it was his graduation present. Remus told him of the numerous nights that the Marauders spent at the cabin on full moons. The area was covered by forest. There was a huge clearing in which the cabin was built. There was also a small lake in the clearing.

Ginny had refused to rest and wanted to help fight Voldemort. Harry couldn't but help admire her drive. She recovered completely in a week. In the mean time, all of them attended the will readings of the various Order members at Gringotts. Sirius left everything to Harry. Draco Malfoy had put a petition against the will but the goblins informed him that the claim was refuted. Everything the Weasleys owned went to Ginny. McGonagall had surprisingly left a bit of money to Harry and Remus. The rest of the Order left a bit of money to be utilized in the war effort and the rest to the remaining Order members as they had no other family left.

At Gringotts, Harry's hopes of Dumbledore being alive were crushed. The goblins specifically told him that the will would not have been activated if he was not dead. In his will, Dumbledore left most the money to his brother Aberforth Dumbledore who was present at the reading. Most books and some of the money were left for Remus. He had also left a bit of money for the Weasleys and various members of the Order. The remaining money was left for the war effort. Aberforth Dumbledore was sad but he agreed to help Harry in any way he needed. He agreed to pass on the news he heard.

After discussing with Remus, all the money left for the war effort was put in a new vault and this was to be given to various charities and orphanages. Harry knew he didn't need money from the Order to wage this war. He was after all prepared by Magneto to be a weapon. He didn't need other weapons in this war.

Harry and company bought a few books and other things like potion ingredients and such.

Then Remus took them to a vampire in Devon who was a wandmaker. He was an 850 year old vampire who created wands for vampires, werewolves, veela and races that could wield magic but could not get a wand due to ministry rules. Ginny had lost her wand that night and Harry's was destroyed. Even Tonks didn't know about this. She too was fitted with a new wand. All the wands created were custom wands. Even though Harry didn't need a wand, Remus thought that it was a good idea that he had a wand. The problem was that all the wands worked for him. He could channel his magic through any wand. He picked up a previously prepared wand that was used for testing.

Ginny's wand consisted of a Phoenix feather and crushed Grim teeth. Her wand was made of Roan wood.

Tonks' wand consisted of Thestral hair, Griffin feather and werewolf blood. Her wand was made of Maple.

Harry's ready wand consisted of a Dragon heartstring and it was made of Holly. He deliberately chose a wand made of Holly to remember his old wand.

Remus taught Harry and Ginny some useful curses and jinxes. Harry noted that after he learnt to perform the spell and pushed his magic through the wand, it would be the expected color. But if he did wandless magic, it was always grayish black color. He could do wandless magic by just thinking of the effects. If he channeled it through a wand, it would be the appropriate color weather he did the wand movement and said the incantation correct or not.

The attacks were frequent. Harry, Ginny and Remus tried to stop attacks as often as they could. Tonks and Kingsley would join them whenever they could. Ginny and Remus fought relentlessly. But it was all down to Harry. He was the reason they won against overwhelming odds. He was like an animal. He would blanket the area with his magic to prevent anyone from escaping. He would pop open his claws and fall on them like a vengeful god. He would fling out his magic everywhere cutting down death eaters with ease. Harry completely let go and was in a state of feral rage during those attacks. He moved on instinct alone and his attacks were unexpected and devastating. Rex accompanied them in his scaled form. The death eaters never stood a chance against Rex and Harry's ferocious attacks. Ginny and Remus only accompanied them because they didn't want to be left behind. Most of time they simply had to protect themselves until all the death eaters were dead. Harry never left any death eater alive during any attacks.

In the many attacks, Harry chased off the dementors. Ginny had learnt to produce a white mist. Remus, Tonks and Kingsley held themselves against dementors. It was really getting annoying that they could not destroy the dementors.

Harry always got many injuries in the fights but they were always healed within minutes of the fights ending. Kingsley fed them news from the ministry. He gave them suspected death eater meeting places which they staked out. If death eaters appeared, they would kill them and destroy the place. Kingsley also tipped them when the aurors were arriving.

As Harry never left anyone witness to his killing, the papers had pegged them as a vigilante group. These attacks and killings were covered in the paper. There was a large public outcry against his killing tactics but he ignored them. Kingsley's tip offs were helpful in avoiding the aurors. He could have easily fought them off but he didn't want the aurors actively hunting him. As long as he was killing only the death eaters, the ministry could let it slide. The majority of the public supported the vigilante actions though they didn't know who they were. The minister tried to gather enough public support to give ministry more rights. He continuously tried to get Harry to work with him disregarding the warning Harry had given him. The papers were continuing to label him as the Chosen One. They were asking him to take action and save them once again not realizing that he was already doing it.

The first full moon passed without any incidents as Ginny and Remus spent the night running in the forest. In the morning, Harry and Rex followed their trials and brought them back. Harry and Tonks nursed them back with some restorative potions that Harry had bought. It killed Harry to watch them suffer like that. So he decided to become an animagus.

Upon his insistence, Remus taught him how to be an animagus. Remus told him James and Sirius had not followed the traditional method of brewing a potion to see their animagus form. It was a very difficult potion and they could not get their hands on all the ingredients. He told Harry that Sirius had found an old animagus manual in his family library which was discarded in a corner for being a book on light magic. The method discussed in the manual enabled them to become animaguses in a few short months.

The method was to study an animal in detail and transfigure themselves into that animal. If it was their animagus form, they could remain in animal form even after the spell wore off. The spell to transfigure themselves into an animal was from the manual. Sirius and James had gone through at least twenty animals and birds each before they found their forms. Peter had taken two additional months because he had never expected himself to be a rat. After finding their form, the manual instructed to use the spell until they were intimately familiar with the animal form. Then they had to concentrate on turning themselves to their animal forms without the spell and wand part by part. Harry heard everything Remus had to say about the subject before trying anything.

A sore point was that Ginny received a letter from Hogwarts that she was no longer allowed to attend due to her lycanthropy. Harry also got his O.W.L results and supplies list. He brooded the entire day thinking about Ron and Hermione. He was imagining their reactions to their O.W.L scores and the nagging Hermione would do to prepare them for N.E.W.Ts. He really missed them both a lot. They were his first friends and it really depressed him that they were not alive. He tore the O.W.L results and the supplies list. He decided that he would not attend Hogwarts if Ginny couldn't attend.

Harry and Ginny had grown closer. Ginny got a letter from Dean saying that he could no longer see her as she was a werewolf. Harry wanted to kill him for that but Ginny held him back. Dean broke off with her just because she was a werewolf. He had sent this letter when Ginny was in hospital. Ginny burnt the letter thinking that he wasn't worth it.

Within a week of staying together, Harry felt his feelings towards Ginny of affection escalate. He asked her out formally at the end of the week and she agreed. They were happier to be there for one another. They talked about many things and Harry was very grateful for her company. Remus and Tonks were also in a relationship.

They celebrated Harry's birthday by themselves. Kingsley and Tonks also attended. Harry got a few auror manuals from Kingsley and a collection of sweets from Tonks. Ginny got him an antique mithril chain with a heavy crystal cross at its end. According to the shopkeeper she bought it from, the crystal cross was once worn by the legendry warriors of lost times and said to be a very powerful magical artifact. The cross contained the night sky in all its glory inside it. It was also unexpectedly heavy. It was a spectacular sight, with midnight black sky and bright stars. Ginny informed him that it was charmed to grow with the wearer and it could not be removed by anyone else after it was worn. Harry protested against this gift as he knew mithril was very costly and that an old magical artifact such as this would have cost quite a lot. But Ginny persisted, saying that she had more than enough money from Dumbledore and her brothers. But the best gift he received was a Pensieve full of memories of his parents and Marauders from Remus. All of them spent time laughing and crying over the memories in the Pensieve.

The attacks continued and Remus continued to tutor them. Tonks moved in permanently with them. Remus and Kingsley upgraded the wards around the cabin over a weekend that left them magically drained. Harry watched with the magic at work when they created the wards. It was exciting to watch the wards form and settle.

Harry had attained his first animagus form in little over a month. Since Rex was with him at all times and he had a telepathical connection with him, he studied him. Talking about different body parts and how they functioned was a lot easier than learning it incompletely from a book. It was also a personalized experience and hence it proved to be a lot easier for him. Even he was surprised when he retained the form. He began to practice and had perfected it before the next full moon. It was very easy for him. He turned into an identical Syrian Cat as Rex but for his eyes which remained green.

He was disappointed when he found that he could not change his form like Rex could. He had no magical capabilities of a Syrian Cat. He was just physically a Syrian Cat. He did not gain any telepathic abilities or the bigger wolf like scaled form.

Harry and Rex accompanied Remus and Ginny on the next full moon. The four of them had fun wrestling and racing in the forest. Harry enjoyed the powerful feeling of being a Syrian Cat. Both Ginny and Remus were more playful than homicidal with Harry and Rex accompanying them. The presence of animals calmed down their werewolf nature.

Since Harry could do wandless magic, he asked Rex to teach him how to create portals. He learnt it easily enough. All he had to do was concentrate on creating a tear in the air and pushing his magic to hold the tear open. Then he had to infuse the destination with his magic and then supply magic for the formation of the portal to the destination. Then he had to bleed the portal of disturbances like spikes in the portal. At first he needed more than a minute to create a portal but within days of practicing, he could create it as fast as Rex.

Ginny's birthday was on August 11. Again a small party was arranged for her. Kingsley gave her an auror grade wand holster. Tonks gave Ginny a few books which Ginny promptly hid. She wouldn't tell anyone about the books but she blushed whenever someone asked. Remus gave her a detailed book about werewolves and their anatomy. Harry gave her loads of chocolate that she really liked along with a bracelet made of gold.

Harry Potter would never forget the night of August 11 for he was given the most wonderful gift – a vision of a happy future and the love of a woman.

After Kingsley had left and Tonks had dragged off Remus someplace, Ginny led Harry to her room. He helped her carry her presents to her room.

Ginny sat down on his lap and began snogging him seriously. After several long sessions, she asked him curiously "Why haven't you proceeded further Harry? All we do is snog. Don't you want to go any further?"

Harry replied embarrassed "Its not like that Ginny. Its… its just that I have never done anything like that before."

To Harry's mortification, Ginny began laughing hysterically. He had to hold her to him lest she fall down from laughing. Once she regained her breath, she asked him grinning "You mean to tell me none of the girls have dragged you off and shagged you? Harry… being the Boy Who Lived, I never expected you to be a virgin. Cho had bragged that you were a god in bed. The Patil twins claimed that you popper their cherry on the night of the Yule ball in your fourth year. With the number of girls lusting after you at school, it is nothing less than a miracle that you are still a virgin."

Harry blushed red hearing Ginny speak like that. He had been given 'The Talk' by Sirius and Remus but it was embarrassing to hear about yourself like that. "Umm… yeah well…" Harry shrugged helplessly.

"Oh don't worry about that Harry. I am also a virgin. My mother," she sighed sadly and continued "bless her, had told me of a family tradition that however rare they were, girls in the family, both Weasley and Prewitt, never had sex before marriage. She taught me a family spell that can be performed when you are having sex for the first time that can show you your possible future if you stay with your partner. A boy who is a virgin could also do the spell. She also told me the importance of preserving myself for the boy I loved and not to indulge in sex just because of momentary pleasure. Ever since you saved me from the chamber, I have loved you Harry. When my mom told me about this spell, I had immediately envisioned me having sex with you and performing that spell. So how about we make my dreams come true tonight Harry? Even if we are not married, I love you more than life itself." Ginny told him passionately.

Harry was moved by her words. He told her tenderly "I love you with all my heart Ginny. If you are sure, we can make both our dreams come true."

They hastily removed their clothes and began kissing passionately. Overcoming the initial awkwardness, Harry entered her. Ginny had warned him of the blood due to initial penetration. Ginny stopped him from moving and picked up her wand. She pointed it to Harry and chanted Fortitua Chroniclus Essae. She repeated the same while pointing it to herself.

As soon as the spell hit him, Harry was sucked into a trance like vision. A second later, he felt Ginny take his hand. They met each other's eyes and smiled at each other. They saw a beautiful sea side wedding and a joyful honeymoon on the beach. They saw Ginny getting pregnant and then giving birth to their first son. They watched him grow up as more children were born. There were twin girls followed by two sons and two daughters. They watched as their seven children graduated and got married. They saw the birth of their grandchildren. The last image they saw was their whole family sitting together and having a wonderful time.

When they came out of their vision, both had tears in their eyes. It was a wonderful future to look forward to. Harry had always wanted a family of his own. Seeing the vision of a large family filled with love and joy was an incredible experience for him. They made love into the early morning reaffirming the love they felt for each other and working towards the future in the vision.

Harry and Ginny showed much more affection openly from then on. Remus and Tonks were also overjoyed hearing about the vision. They both teased them mercilessly for a few days after that.

Soon the day of start of term fell upon them. The public were yet to know that Harry would not attend Hogwarts this year. Harry was shocked when he saw the names of the new Headmaster and his deputy in the paper. It was none other than Cornelius Oswald Fudge and Dolores Jane Umbridge. Professor Flitwick was ignored for the position and the ministry was trying to get Hogwarts under its control. To add to his fury, Snape was retained as the potion master.

He could not sit by and let Snape destroy Hogwarts from within. He could also not withstand the ministry playing with the life of students just to gain control of the school. He discussed it with the others and decided to pay a visit to the school during the feast. He convinced the others to stay behind because he had not been completely truthful to them. He also wanted to weed out the death eaters among the students. He asked Rex telepathically to accompany him.

They had found a few interesting things about Rex's telepathic abilities. Being a werewolf, both Ginny and Remus had supernatural mental shields. Harry himself also had one but as he was bonded to Rex, it was voided. Rex tried to read Remus and Ginny telepathically. They found out that however strong the mental shields maybe, Rex could always pick up what they were currently thinking. He could not pick up their memories or previous thoughts but he could always gleam their surface thoughts which they were currently thinking. This telepathy was better than Legilimency because when Harry tried to cast the spell on them, he could not get anything from them, not even the surface thoughts. They surmised that Rex could pick up almost anything from an unprotected mind and only a little bit if they were protected.

That night, when he was sure that the feast was going on, he created a portal and passed through with Rex.

Seeing a huge, dangerous cat with the Boy Who Lived and them appearing in the great hall without any noise created the biggest chaos in the history of start of term feasts. People were terrified of the cat and the ability of someone passing through the famed wards of Hogwarts. They were afraid that they would be invaded by death eaters next.

Harry's voice boomed over the cacophony of noise "SILENCE!"

Not wanting to already extend the unwanted meeting and give Snape a chance to escape, he unleashed his magic and petrified everyone in the hall. He put a mass Silencio on them and tweaked his magic so that they could only move their heads. A rippling black wave exploded from him and encompassed the whole hall.

He watched as Fudge's face and Umbridge's face were red with fury as they failed to make any noise. He was disgusted to note that auror Dawlish was given the DADA post. Snape in all his greasy glory was glaring at him with malice. The other professors didn't seem to be fighting against his magic and he saw a degree of sadness in their eyes.

He spoke to the quiet room at large "I am so very sorry for crashing to this feast. I was invited but I don't want to sit among bigoted twits to be taught by incompetent buffoons that Ministry has sent. And I certainly don't want to stay in a prestigious school like Hogwarts with death eaters and killers. I apologize to other professors and students for the insult." He said sarcastically.

"Now the purpose of this visit is not to attend the feast however. My friend who is with me is Rex and he is a Syrian Cat. Yes, yes. The mythical Syrian Cat. He is my familiar and has agreed to help me with his highly unusual skills. Now he will be looking into the minds of both faculty and students to determine who all among you are death eaters. If you are forced to be one, you will be given another chance. If not, well tough luck, you wont ever see the school again. I don't have the ministry's approval and I don't care. While Rex is scanning all the students, I have a score to settle with one Severus Snape." He finished coldly.

He levitated Snape from his seat to the front of the high table. Thankfully he remembered to cast through his wand.

He released the petrification and silencing charms on Flitwick, Sprout and Madame Pomfrey. He addressed them respectfully "I am sorry professor Flitwick, professor Sprout and Madame Pomfrey. I never meant you slight you all. I have the utmost respect for you all. I am very sorry it had to come to this but there is no other way. Snape here was the traitor that caused the massacre at Hampshire. Professor Dumbledore thought that Snape was spying for him among the death eaters but he was the traitor. You have no doubt read in the paper about the incident which mentioned the traitor. Well, he was the traitor. I am forced to pass sentence on him because the ministry has become incompetent. Professor Dumbledore and his friends had captured most of the inner circle of death eaters in the department of mysteries in June. Within days, they were free from ministry's grasp and they led attacks against my friends. The information no doubt came from this traitor here. I am just seeking justice that's all. You may leave if you wish for I cannot force you to watch anything."

Flitwick replied in his squeaky voice "Mr. Potter, I too wish it hadn't come to this. I am very angry at Severus and I understand your stance. I would have asked for the honor or killing Snape myself but you have a long standing score to settle with him. I speak for my colleagues when I say that we support your actions even though we wish that it wasn't so."

Sprout replied sadly "Children should not have been dragged into this war Mr. Potter but once they have chosen their bed, they must lie in it. Please be just and verify the facts. You wouldn't want to feel guilty about your actions later."

Pomfrey told him sternly "Please do what you must Mr. Potter. I abhor violence but I do not wish to see Hogwarts filled with fights in the future. I only ask that you do not subject the still innocent children to witness your judgments."

Harry bowed to them and replied "Thank you. I will do as you ask." He suddenly grinned ferally and said "In fact, I know the perfect punishment for them."

He removed the clothes and all other items from Snape including potion vials, portkeys and wands. He was satisfied to see that Snape didn't have a complete left hand. He saw a stump from elbow downwards.

Rex came back to him and told him about the students mentally. He levitated all the students with the dark mark in front of him. There were silent exclamations of shock from most of the students and teachers. He removed all their outer robes and cut their clothes on their left hands completely. All of them had the dark marks.

He was disappointed to see that there were so many people he knew. Some were even in the DA classes that he had taught last year. He spoke loudly "All these students have the dark marks. Of them Earnie, Terry, Justin and a few others were forced to take the mark either due to their parents or due to threats but they don't want to cause any harm. But others like Malfoy, Michael Corner and Cormac McLaggen took the mark willingly and wish to cause you all harm as per orders from their 'master'. I am sad to see that even students from Slytherin don't want to be death eaters when they are rumored to be dark wizards but students from Gryffindor and Ravenclaw are willingly serving that wanker."

He moved to whisper into Justin's ear "Don't worry Justin, I will make sure your parents and sister are safe." He whispered the same in Terry's ear. He told Earnie "Don't be forced by your parents to do anything Earnie. You are safe here. Talk to professors Sprout or Flitwick. They will help you." He then turned to the four Slytherins who were forced to become death eaters "Please talk to professors Flitwick and Sprout. I assure you that they will help you."

He sent them all towards professors Flitwick and Sprout and addressed them "These students were forced in one way or another to become death eaters professors. They don't wish to follow Voldemort or want to cause harm." He ignored the silent flinches and continued "Please help them. With all the supporters gone from here, they will need your help and support."

He turned to the other students with the dark mark and Snape. He summoned their wands and snapped them. He also summoned any possible portkeys. He pointed his wand at them and visualized them to be transfigured into mice. He conjured a large jar and levitated the petrified mice into it.

He turned to the school at large and said "You can all be free of these unpleasant characters from now on. I have charred enough of your eyes by flashing Snape. I won't remove Fudge and Umbridge from here because the ministry will just send someone else. Better the devil you know than the one you don't right? I am telling you that Dawlish who is to be the DADA professor is a rank one idiot and bigot. Prepare yourselves. I promise you that Voldemort and his death eaters will die by my hands."

He continued coldly "I don't want to see any bigotry within these halls. Dean you are going to suffer if you don't shape up. All of you will cease this stupid rivalry among yourselves. Slytherins are not evil. They are students just like you. Treat them civilly and they will do the same. This has gone on for long enough. Honor professor Dumbledore's memory and unite Hogwarts under his name. I might take care of Voldemort and his followers, but I don't want another situation to rise wherein another dark lord rises from amongst you. Don't listen to the drivel from ministry or their buffoons they post here. Prepare yourselves with the help of the many respected professors available to you. The faculty here barring a few is the best in the world. Use them to further your studies and open your views to the world. I hate the wizarding world as it is now and I will most likely be far away from here after I finish Voldemort. Shape up yourselves and work for a prejudice free world or you will be destroyed by strifes and uprisings from other magical creatures."

Harry noticed the ghosts looking at him curiously. He addressed the bloody baron "My apologies Mr. Baron. Could I entrust to control the behavior of students and the ministry lackeys? Could you use Peeves to ensure that Hogwarts lets go of their prejudice and bigotry?"

The bloody baron spoke in an eerily scratchy voice "Of course Mr. Potter. We, the spirits of Hogwarts are glad at least someone has the correct views."

He bowed to them and asked them mischievously "Could you please keep a 'close' eye on the ministry lackeys please?"

Harry saw a ghost of a grin on the bloody baron's face as he replied "It will be our pleasure."

Harry picked up the jar and cancelled the magic he had cast on the great hall before leaving through a portal.

Harry never liked to torture anyone but he had a comprehensive knowledge bank in his mind. Rex had already telepathically found all important information from the student death eaters. He reluctantly tortured Snape for information since Rex couldn't read deeply into his mind. Harry had to admire the resilience of Snape. He could endure quite a bit of torture.

Harry was sure if it was only magical torture, Snape would have never revealed anything. But against a full arsenal of muggle torture knowledge, he eventually gave out. Harry extracted every bit of knowledge from him regarding Voldemort and his plans. Even Snape, as his heir didn't know anything significant other than a big attack on Halloween. Voldemort was surely a very suspicious bastard.

Harry didn't like to cause extreme pain just because they were his enemies. He preferred to kill them instantly. He kept the guilt away by knowing that he gave them an easy death for their crimes. So, without emotion, he killed them all one by one by slitting their throats. One thing he didn't offer them was unconscious death. He felt that they should at least be responsible enough to face their death. He didn't even blink or taunt them, even Malfoy before killing them. He took their bodies and dropped them off near the Acromantula nest in the Forbidden forest. He didn't trust the acromantulas to leave behind live death eaters as he wasn't sure about their allegiance. But he wasn't about to begrudge them to deny them a large meal.

He spent several hours trying to clear his thoughts about the murders he had committed. In the end, he found comfort in Ginny's arms as he poured his heart out to her. It was the first time he had killed helpless people who could not fight back. Before this he had only killed in battle. It took a lot of coaxing on Ginny's part for him to accept it as a necessity of war.

The attacks reduced drastically once the school started. They were perplexed why Voldemort had done that but they didn't have any information about that. They were also wary thinking about what nefarious plans Voldemort was making.

Within the week, Harry had secured an unplotted manor. He gave it to Justin's and Terry's parents to use until they saw fit. As he had promised his classmates, he sneaked them away to the new location in the middle of the night before Voldemort could get wind of their movement.

But the start of school marked an increase in the number of mental attacks against Harry. It seemed as though Voldemort was afraid or that he didn't want to attack him through their connection in the holidays. But once, the school started, Harry usually woke up from scar pains almost ever night. Harry's prowess in Occlumency stopped him seeing visions of torture but the pain had not lessened in the least. Harry was afraid that Voldemort could still look into his mind. He wasn't sure if Occlumency really helped him guard his thoughts from Voldemort because of their unique connection. But Rex assured him that Voldemort could never get any information from Harry.

Rex told him that Harry too had supernatural shields. All of them discussed the changes in Harry in depth now that the attacks had lessened. His instincts were more pronounced and his mind was altered. His mental shields were beyond that of a wizard. He now had the capability to kill. The mere thought of killing someone before would have horrified him but now, he had no qualms of killing death eaters. He was quick to anger and he could not always control his emotions. His famous explosive anger was now converted to raging fury. Unlike before, he could think clearly even if he was angry. And this raging fury made him more dangerous when he was in that mood as he didn't care about anything other than quenching his rage. His enhanced healing was a blessing since he had a penchant for getting hurt. It was also a bonus that his Adamantium skeleton rendered bone breaking and exploding curses useless against him.

Voldemort only attacked once a week now. It was more difficult to counter these attacks since they were completely unpredictable. It seemed that Voldemort had ordered the dementors to breed. A large area of England was blanketed by a green mist indicating the frantic breeding of dementors. Dementors were rarely used in these weekly attacks. Harry and the others could not track all of England every day for attacks. Kingsley could also not inform them of the attacks without raising any suspicions. Besides the aurors were already there and by the time they received the news, the attacks had ended.

So now Voldemort's attacks were all successful. The wizarding public was terrified. They never knew who was targeted next. Some times it was muggles and other times, whole families of important witches and wizards were killed. Since there was no one to oppose his attacks, everyone feared that this was the start of the dark reign of Lord Voldemort. The ministry assurances did not ally any fears. The more popular places like Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade were deserted. The shops and businesses were boarded up. All business was either done through owls or they were done as quickly as they could be. People were very afraid.

Harry felt helpless. But he had not cut down on his training. He had included a physical regimen to this training since the attacks had reduced. He ran a few miles in the forest daily and exercised before breakfast. Then he practiced the various styles of muggle martial arts that had been implanted in his brain by Magneto. He was surprised to find that Remus was a master of a few styles himself. They sparred regularly to keep their skills sharp. Remus explained that it was easy for wizards to learn martial arts due to the adaptive nature of magic. But he also said that no wizards wanted to willingly learn close combat techniques when they could use wands readily. It was an absurd practice and Remus concurred. They began to teach Ginny and Tonks some of the more easier styles. During spars, Harry and Remus observed that usually crippling blows only caused him a few bruises. They were amazed that Harry's strength far exceeded Remus' werewolf strength.

Since they were relatively jobless other than training, they started experimenting with Harry's magical capabilities. They found a few interesting things. The portals that Harry and Rex created were not restricted by any wards. They checked it out by creating portals to some hidden passage ways in Hogwarts. But they found that not everyone could simply go through the portals. There portals were one time – one way portals for the creator only. If others wanted to use the portal, they had to be in physical contact with the creator of the portal. They found that even Rex had to be touching Harry to cross through one his portals even if he had the ability to create portals.

The other very astonishing fact was unearthed about Harry's animagus form. Remus, being the literary genius speculated that Harry's first form of a Syrian Cat may have been due to the bond between Harry and Rex. So he told Harry to try some obscure animal to try and see if Harry could in fact have any animal form if he chose to. Harry had always loved to fly ever since he was introduced to it. So he decided on the messenger falcon of Mongolia. They were a dying species of falcons that he remembered from a TV documentary he had watched at the Dursleys. He went to the muggle world to find details about it. It took him three weeks to find all data on it. Many libraries didn't have any information on it. Finally he asked a biological research institute posing as a science enthusiast. He took another week to study all the details.

The first time he changed, he knew he could choose to become any animal he wished as long as he found their details and practiced the spell. It took him a further two weeks to master the avian form. The form had a seven foot wingspan. It was predominantly brown in color but the underside of the wings had white and grey feathers. His eyes as expected remained green. As much as he loved to fly on a broom, flying by himself was far more exhilarating for Harry. He spent a few minutes everyday enjoying flying in his falcon form.

Remus deduced that this might be due to his mutant status. Remus guessed that due to Harry's prowess in wandless magic and the fact that one of Harry's gifts as a mutant was magic itself; he could have any form he wished. He also thought that Harry may have a distinct form due to him being a mutant. Harry told them that he was quite happy from the two forms and he didn't wish to explore that ability further until the war was over. They also concluded that Harry could take any animal form he wished but could not emulate the magical powers of the said animal. For example, if he wanted, he could transform into a dragon but he could not breathe fire.

Remus was very interested in Harry's idea of finding a way to permanently kill dementors. They began to put up ideas of improving the Patronus spell. They tried to cast it with different emotions. Rather than just happiness, they tried love, friendship, anger and even lust. But nothing worked. But Harry was determined to find some way to neutralize them. There were already many dementors around and they were breeding again. They would be uncontrollable if left unchecked.

A/N: Sorry to all the people who faced problems reading the chapter coz it was so big. I didn't know it would create a problem like this. So I have split it up into two chapters… Please get back to me if you still have problems..