AN: This will be a short author's note to address an issue that has been sprouting up in the last few updates. When the new chapter is written I'll add it on here and the AN will be in bold like usual.

I'll just start off by agreeing that yes, it would be boring if Harry never grew a "backbone" as a few have put it. But Tom's doing his damnedest to set that back as far as possible. So in short... yeah, it'll happen, but I'm going to take my sweet ass time with it. For now, this'll be the status quo.

People tend to put way too much stock in the Prophecy and "destiny" that's mentioned through out the books. I say "mentioned" because time and time again, J.K. Rowling makes it clear that it is all complete nonsense. From Dumbledor telling Harry that it was his CHOICE to end up in Griffindor that put him in there, to it turning out that the Prophecy was actually about Neville Longbottom. (And maybe it was about the both of them, I can't remember it that clearly.) The sorting into houses has nothing to do with personality traits; most people in real life could be sorted into two or more houses. J.K. Rowling outright has Harry say that it was never just about him, that the Prophecy everyone went crazy over didn't really matter in the end.

I for one, don't put any stock in destiny. The future depends on the circumstances of your life up until now, and the choices you make. This Harry didn't lead the life of cannon Harry. He had entirely different experiences, and even with the few parrells I put in, he made different choices. Tom is the biggest difference.

So this Harry won't be the one of the Prophecy. Not for the sake of some loony lady spouting out words and not remembering them anyway. When/if he stands up to Tom and becomes his own person, it'll be because of his circumstances and his own decisions.

If you're expecting Lightning to follow the original you'll be sorely disappointed. The point of fanfiction is to take characters and ideas and run with them. Not to relegate yourself to the status quo of the original author.