Disclaimer: I don't own any of the cannon characters, JKR does. But the new ones are all mine.

Before Hogwarts

The Visitor

It had been almost six years since a baby had been found on the doorstep of #4 Privet Drive and the occupants of that address weren't happy about taking care of another baby. They had taken the baby in, but had never shown it any type of love; in fact the child had grown up treated like a slave and bullied by the only other child in the house. Vernon had just gotten home from work and was sitting at the dinner table when someone knocked on the front door.

"Now who would be knocking on the door at this time of the day?", Vernon asked.

When Vernon opened the door he found a well dressed man who was holding a briefcase in one hand and an umbrella in the other. "Excuse me sir, I am looking for a Vernon Dursley. My name is Richard Green of Chotty, Drew, and Green Attorneys At Law, oh that's barrister here in England. Would you be Mr. Dursley?"

When Vernon acknowledged that he was Vernon Dursley the man explained that he had a sum of money to arrange delivery from a will that his firm was handling, of course he would need proof of identity before discussing anything further. Vernon quickly invited the man inside, after all he didn't want any of his neighbors seeing anything unusual. Once they were inside Mr. Green asked if Vernon's wife was home as he would need to verify both their identities along with all residents of the household.

Vernon called his wife and son into the living room and introduced them. Mr. Green asked about their nephew who he had been told lived there also, so Harry was called from the kitchen.

After looking at the IDs of both adults, and writing them down in a little notebook, he asked Harry to show him the scar on his forehead to verify Harry's identity.

"Now, as I said my name is Richard Green and I have some paperwork to discuss with you. My firm is handling the will of James and Lily Potter; we have been notified of their deaths and need to settle this matter rather quickly. Doesn't look good you know being six years late. Now the terms of the will are these, you Mr. and Mrs. Dursley will be paid a set amount to provide for Harry until his 17th birthday. In addition we will refund all moneys spent on Harry for clothes, school fees, and such; once you provide proof of the expenditures. Harry will be required to spend his summers in the company of one of our people and would be required to spend every other weekend with one of our people so we can get him up to speed on his responsibilities outlined in his parents' will. We will also need to inspect his living quarters every six months to make sure they are up to the standards outlined. Now, all I need are your signatures on these documents and we can get to getting you the money owed for back support, I believe that comes to 120,000. Would you prefer a lump sum check or just to have it added to the next few years payments?"

Vernon couldn't seem to speak, in fact he looked like he was about to have a stroke. Vernon finally got his wits about him and asked if that could be in cash instead of a check. Mr. Green said no it had to be a check for the back pay and all future payments would be direct deposit into his checking account due to taxes and such. Mr. Green opened his briefcase and removed a 4 inch thick set of forms and told Vernon that he would leave them there to be looked over and that they would sign everything tomorrow evening after Harry had been examined by a specialist to rule out a certain genetic defect that had been detected on his mother's side of the family. When asked if Dudley needed to be checked Mr. Green said only if Harry had the defect would the firm pay the 100,000 fee for Dudley to be tested (which would be charged against their annual payment of course).

Mr. Green told them he would return at 9am to pick Harry up and he needed to have a good nights rest and really large breakfast before the test, he suggested that Harry have two eggs, bacon, fried potatoes, juice, and toast. With that said he left so the Dursleys could get back to their dinner. Vernon watched out the window as Mr. Green got in a very nice car and drove away.

At 9am Mr. Green knocked on the door at #4 Privet Drive once again. The door was opened by Harry, who was dressed in clothes that were at least three sizes too big for his frame; but Mr. Green didn't say anything about the way Harry was dressed, he just asked if Mrs. Dursley was available. Harry asked him to have a seat in the living room and he would get his aunt. When Petunia came in she was asked if she would show him where Harry's room was so he could inspect it for the first time. Petunia said it was a mess and she was embarrassed for Mr. Green to see it that way, so Mr. Green said he would look at it when they returned that evening.

As soon as she saw the car turn the corner, Petunia was on the phone to her husband to tell him that Mr. Green wanted to see Harry's room that afternoon, Vernon told her to clean out Dudley's extra bedroom and set Harry up in there. Dudley of course threw a fit about Harry moving into the extra bedroom.

As soon as they were out of sight of the house Mr. Green told Harry he could just call him Rick and that Mr. Green sounded too much like his father's name. Rick then asked Harry what he had for breakfast, Harry told him he had one egg, one strip of bacon and a glass of water since freaks like him didn't need to eat a lot. The first stop was at a diner so Harry could have a real breakfast, after that they went to see about getting Harry some clothes that fit. Once Rick had Harry in new clothes they stopped at a hotel where Rick took Harry upstairs to a room.

"Sit down Harry, we need to talk before we go for your exam. I'm sure you have some questions that need answers as I know I have a few questions for you. First off as I said earlier please just call me Rick when we aren't around your aunt and uncle or your cousin, otherwise I'll just have to call you Mr. Potter all the time. Now I never met your parents so I can't tell you much about them other than they loved you very much. In fact they loved you so much that they died protecting you when you were only 15 months old. Do you know how your parents died?", Rick asked.

"No sir, I was told they died in a car wreck because they were drunk.", Harry replied.

"Harry what would you say if I told you that you were a wizard? And what if I told you your mom and dad were a witch and a wizard too?"

"There is no such thing as witches and wizards, according to my uncle there is no such thing as magic; in fact they get upset if I say the word."

"Well, how about I try and prove it to you that magic exists and that you can probably do magic yourself, would at least then think it might be true?"

"How?"

Rick pulled a wand out of his inside coat pocket and transfigured Harry's clothes into robes and then back again. Harry was shocked and asked if he could do that too. Rick told him that he needed some training before he could do that kind magic but that Harry could try to see if he could get sparks to come out of the wand. He handed Harry his wand and told him to face the window and give the wand a wave, nothing happened and Harry's face fell. Rick explained that maybe that wand wasn't right and Harry should try a different one he had in his briefcase. Rick took another wand from his briefcase and asked Harry to try again; this time the wand produced red and gold sparkles as soon as Harry waved it.

"Very good Harry want to try a real spell? I can't say for sure that you will get it to work but as it is an advanced spell. Point your wand at that plastic cup over there and with your eyes open think about the cup flying to your hand then say accio cup , but you have to really want the cup to come to you." Harry tried and nothing happened, so Rick had him try again and this time the cup slid off the counter on to the floor. Rick levitated the cup back on to the counter and Harry tried again. This time the cup came a little bit further towards Harry before falling.

"I did it, sort of", Harry said.

"Yes you did even better than I expected. Now it is time to go get your exam done, then we'll come back here and talk some more. Now we are going to use a magic way of traveling so hold on to my arm real tight and don't let go until I say. This might feel kind of funny but don't let go no matter what."

Harry grabbed Rick's arm and then he felt as if something was trying to pull him off and the next thing he knew they were standing, at least Rick was standing, outside a set of gates. Rick helped Harry to get his bearings and lead the way inside the gates. As Harry walked through the gates he felt something tingly on his skin, then he saw a very large house where nothing had been before. Rick lead Harry to the door and with a wave of his wand the door opened and they were greeted by the strangest creature Harry had ever seen.

"Tinkie, has Ms. Lucy made it here yet?" "Yes, Master Rick, she is in the parlor waiting for you and the young one."

Rick lead Harry into the parlor and introduced him to Lucy, "Lucy this is Harry, and Harry this is Lucy. She will be doing the testing on you today and she has assured me it will be painless. The only bad part about it is the potion you will have to drink." Rick informed Harry.

Lucy asked Harry to lie down on the sofa, she then waved her wand over Harry in a very complicated manner and soon a long piece of paper came out thin air and into her hands. Lucy looked at the paper for a few minutes then pointed her wand at Harry's arm and then at two vials in her hand, the vials filled with blood. One vial she gave to Rick and the other she placed in her pocket. She gave Harry a small vial that contained a bright green liquid and told Harry to drink it all down. Harry said it tasted like the lime gelatin they served at school sometimes. In just a couple of minutes several colors surrounded Harry, mostly golden but with some red and a couple of black bands; but there was a white stripe that ran from Harry's chin to his waist where no other color showed.

"Rick someone had bound his magic and it isn't the usual binding used by a parent (that is there also). This binding would prevent his magic from developing normally in fact if it isn't removed soon he will only have access to roughly half of his core. The parental binding I can remove easily but the other will take several days with a special potion three times a day and he shouldn't do any magic until the treatment is finished. In addition he is way under weight and is malnourished. I am going to prescribe a vitamin potion once a day for the next month, but he needs a good solid diet three times a day plus a bedtime snack all high in protein.", Lucy explained.

Lucy then asked Harry to stand up as straight as he could with his hands by his side and to be as still as possible. Once Harry stood the colors shifted so that they showed gold and red from the top of his head to the soles of his feet, but there was a single black spot over his scar and the white strip now reached from top to bottom front and back. Lucy told Harry he could either sit or lie down whichever he chose as the colors faded away. Lucy explained that some witches and wizards could see the colors without the aid of the potion and spell she had used and that the colors showed how strong the magic was and where the person's magical strength was strongest.

"You mean like the blue around you? What does that mean? And I can see some dark green mixed in. Rick has a bright white color around him. What do the colors mean?", Harry asked.

Lucy pulled a book out of her pocket and tapped it with her wand so that the book grew. Then started looking through the book until she found the section she was looking for. "Harry the Blue shows that I am a healer and the green shows I'm strong in herbology, the study of plants. You said Rick was bright white, according to my book that means he has no certain strength everything is equal. In your case the white shows that your magic hasn't developed correctly. Once we get it up to par then your colors should even out. From what I have seen you will be a very strong wizard with strong ties to charms and transfiguration. You appear to be what was once called a Battle Mage, and a strong one at that. I haven't seen anyone this strong at your age before, when you get older there will be very few people who can beat you.", Lucy explained to both Rick and Harry.

Rick explained that the brightness or darkness of the primary color gave an indication whether the witch or wizard was basically good or evil, but you should always give the benefit of the doubt until they proved which they were. Lucy excused herself to go brew Harry a couple of potions to hold him over until she could get the exact ones she needed for him. While Lucy was gone Rick suggested they have lunch and called Tinkie to ask for some sandwiches for the two of them, and to save some for Lucy also. Lucy returned just as Harry and Rick finished their lunch and gave Harry two potion vials and told him to take them now.

"The yellow one is a vitamin and nutrition supplement while the other one will start to unbind you magic. You will need to take the yellow one once a day, with breakfast, and the other one three times a day for the next two weeks. I'll warn you that one isn't pleasant tasting, also no magic use until you finish the course of potions and I perform a special spell to complete the unbinding.", Lucy explained.

Harry downed the yellow potion and it wasn't too bad, kind of metallic tasting, the other one tasted like Harry thought dirty socks would taste, foul and disgusting. Harry was glad when Rick handed him a piece of chocolate to help with the after-taste. While Lucy ate her sandwich and crisps, Rick asked Harry if he wanted more information on what was to come; Harry said yes, so Rick started explaining things.

"As I said before it was about six years ago on Halloween when your mother and father were murdered, you were brought to the Dursleys the next day and left on their doorstep with a note explaining why and telling them to care for you. As far as I can tell nobody ever checked up on you since that time. I couldn't get involved until you were seven years old as your magic wouldn't be strong enough. I've been keeping an eye on your situation and it was finally time to get involved. If you are willing then I will start teaching you about magic and the magical world. Once Lucy has finished unbinding your magical core and until you are 11 the only safe place you can do magic is here as the magical government doesn't like young folk doing magic unless they are at a magical school. But since there already so much magic in this house and area they can't detect if you do magic. But this all a waste of time unless you interested, so it is up to you.", Rick explained.

Harry didn't take but a second to decide and ask if Rick would teach him. Rick explained that since Harry couldn't do any magic for two weeks they would use that time to do some studying of what magic was and how it came about. Rick also told Harry that he couldn't tell anyone about magic, especially his aunt, uncle, or cousin. Rick looked at old grandfather clock and said it was time to return Harry to Privet Drive. harry didn't look too happy at that idea until Rick explained that things were going to change starting that very evening.

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