Summary…Just days after the DOM a mysterious letter arrives and Harry is faced with a decision. Reject the offer and continue on the path Dumbledore has set for him or forge a new one and challenge every opinion ever forced on him.

SLASH. Creature fic, new school, Grey/Powerful Harry… Oh if anything warning worthy develops I will put the warning in the authors note. I'll also try to highlight it in the text. K?

A/N…Heyla and welcome to my new fic. Right as stated in the summary this is SLASH so if you don't like it don't read it.

Ok the pairing is up in the air right now. It will be Harry/male as I don't write Het. But as for the specific who, I remain undecided. So I will say right now that I am leaving it up to the readers. Any male character is eligible for the pairing, OC or CANON it doesn't matter so let me know who you think should end up with Harry.

Anyway on to the story.

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Mysteria

Prologue


KNOWLEDGE IS POWER BUT INSTINCT IS SURVIVAL

Dear Mr Potter

It is with sincerest congratulations that we inform you of your eligibility for a place at our school, Mysteria, Academy of Magic.

It is believed that prior correspondence sent to you last week did not arrive due to certain wards your location had in place. We wish to apologise to you for this delay and would like to reiterate our offer of a place at our school.

This offer is being made to you based on the aptitude you have shown in a wide variety of subjects. Places are offered based on potential rather than current grades, as we find that often some of the most competent students are underachieving due to the teaching methods in place at their current school. All learners are different and there are a variety of training methods, not widely employed, which may be better suited to your nature.

We specialize in offering a wide array of courses that via the use of several intrinsic time spells can all be completed within the years of study remaining to you before and after your majority in two years time. Initially our students will remain with us for the next three years (including what would be school holidays at other institutions) however if in some way you develop a particular skill to the level required by a Master said Master may take you on as an Apprentice to further your education. Apprentices study for a further two years with their respective Masters, the Master in question makes the decision on what is learnt and in what time frame.

This offer is a once in a lifetime opportunity and will not be made again. I can assure you that this is a legitimate offer and that if you were to check your school library you would find several vague references to our school, but no discernable information revealing our whereabouts or secrets. If you accept this offer one of our Professors will collect you from your place of residence on the 1st of August. You will be taken to purchase your school supplies before being taken to the school. If you do not accept the place you will receive no further contact from this establishment.

Unfortunately due to the necessary secrecy of our situation we can give you no further information on our school unless you accept a place. If you refuse your place a representative will come and place several permanent spells on you so that you will not be able to reveal any of the information given to you. You will still retain the knowledge that you were offered a place but that is all. You will also find you are unable to talk about this letter with anyone. We hope you understand that this is for our safety and the safety of our students.

Hoping to see you on the first day of term.

Yours

Amika Calfora

Headmistress

Mysteria Academy


Harry had read the letter over and over again since he had received it the day before. It was almost too perfect, the timing and the offer itself. Since losing Sirius he had wished for an escape, a way to get away from his friends and their sympathetic looks and constant questions. But was this another trick of Voldemorts?

He didn't think so. He'd been searching through library books for the past few hours since receiving the letter while out visiting Hogsmeade. He'd found many references to the word Mysteria. It was usually associated with great witches and wizards, in particular those noted for their balanced natures. Meaning their use of both light and dark magic and the changes they had made to both the Wizarding world and the Muggle world.

There was never any mention of the word actually being the name of a school, it had been speculated for centuries what effect the word actually had on a witch or wizard. Some believed that the word itself had power and that its application gave the witch or wizard their knowledge and skills. The word itself was in the book Magical Mysteries: That Have Spanned Time. Still others believed that the word Mysteriawhich was similar to hysteria was a state of mind that only the powerful could achieve.

The only other clue he had to go on was the schools motto written around its crest, a full moon pierced by a larger crescent moon that curved to the right with the words themselves forming a half circle on the left hand side. The words "Knowledge is power but instinct is survival." had appeared several times, most notably in Quotes of the powerful witch or wizard.

It was obvious that the school had a great reputation for turning out powerful individuals and did so without the knowledge of the Ministry. The letter hadn't said this, but it was obvious to Harry as the Ministry couldn't keep any type of secret.

Rather more worryingly there were several cases of death associated with the school, the explanations for the deaths were a few simple words that appeared on a piece of paper with the corpse, the words were "Failed to attain Mysteria". But when Harry thought about this it made sense, if they were working to a higher level of magic then there would obviously be accidents. He wasn't too worried about that. And he wasn't worried about this all being a trick anymore. What he was unsure of was his choice.

Should he go or shouldn't he? Tomorrow he would be returning to the Dursley's for the summer. Did he really want to go back there and then go on to a new school? He had always considered Hogwarts to be his home. Could it still be that even if he didn't finish his education there?

Could he leave his friends? Probably, he wasn't angry with his friends or anything, he'd just reached a point where he realized that no matter what happened he would never feel like he belonged with them anymore. After the Department of Mysteries and Dumbledore's revelation a wall had seemed to spring up between him and them. He'd always felt like the older one, but now when they all joked around and acted the teenagers they all were he never felt like joining in anymore. The DoM had made him into an adult, it hadn't done that for his friends maybe with the exception of Neville, it had just made them more conscious of the dwindling amount of time they still had left to be kids and act like it.

Making a decision Harry took out a piece of parchment and a quill. And wrote a quick "I Accept", signed his name and went straight up to the Owlery to post it before he could change his mind.

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A/N…Well guys there you go, was it any good?