Chapter 16

Harry ran through the jungle with bullets chasing after him all the way, he was leading his men on a reconnaissance mission on a terrorist group hiding in the amazon, he and his men were ambushed and got separated. All he heard was screaming, explosions, and gunfire. He looked around for any of his men, he kept looking but never found anyone, then someone called out to him. He looked to see one of his men, Jimmy, bleeding from two direct hits to his chest.

"Lieutenant, help me, help me!"

Harry woke, raising the combat knife he slept with at the speed only his reflexes could have allowed. He looked around his bedroom for danger, he found none. It had been eight years since he left the army, in those eight years, he had lived in complete isolation, he hunted for his food, he gathered water from the well he dug, if the well ran dry during the summer, he went to a nearby stream, and had a garden that he used to grow fruits and vegetables. Those eight years weren't always peaceful though, Harry suffered from severe PTSD and had nightmares that haunted him frequently. He looked out the window and saw darkness outside, he knew that he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep so he got up and dressed for another day's work in the forest.

Forest Entrance

Sara was at the edge of the forest with her boyfriend Lucas, they were both going into their 6th year at Hogwarts and they were going on a picnic in the forest, Lucas was from the village near the forest and had met Sara at Hogwarts and grew close, they were both Gryffindors which was great for them so they could talk in the common room. They started dating near the end of 5th year. While walking to the spot of the picnic, Lucas told Sara about the man said to live alone in the forest.

"The villagers say he came eight years ago and moved to the forest, apparently, he hasn't left the forest once, not for anything. The kids say he's covered in scars, nobody knows how he got them, except for a woman who said that he's ex military. There's a lot of local myths and legends about him, some of the villagers don't even think he's real."

"Do you think he's real Luc?"

"I don't know Sara, but if we see him today, I'll know for sure."

They arrived at their spot and started their picnic and ate their lunch and talked about their upcoming year at Hogwarts, they were eating some sandwiches when bad news showed up.

"Well look here boys, Lucas has a girlfriend, how about we have some fun with her."

You're not going to touch her!"

"Luc, who are these guys?"

"Dave and his gang of village idiots Sara."

"What'd you just call me."

"You heard me asswipe."

"Get them!"

Dave and his gang started advancing on Lucas and Sara when a new voice called out.

"Four against two, very brave."

Everyone turned to see a startling sight, a man with scars all over his face and an eyepatch over his right eye, he was wearing combat boots and a plaid lumberjack shirt along with a muddy pair of jeans, he had graying black hair and looked like he hadn't slept in days.

"You four need to leave, now."

"Nice eyepatch freak, you do realize it's not halloween, right."

Dave's goons laughed at his very unoriginal insult.

"This is your last chance, leave now."

"Your pushing man, you want a new scar, just tell me where you want it."

Dave pulled out a pocket knife and advanced on Harry. "Big mistake." Harry's combat training kicked in immediately and got into a combat stance. Dave charged towards Harry, only to be grabbed by the wrist and have it twisted, causing him to drop his knife, he was then thrown headfirst into a tree. Dave's gang then attack all at once. Lucas and Sara watched the fight in amazement, to Lucas,this like was something from an action movie. Harry had taken out Dave's gang in a matter of seconds and now focused his attention on Dave, who had recovered from his earlier attack. He grabbed his knife off the ground with his one unbroken wrist and attacked Harry by swinging the knife randomly, which Harry dodged with ease. Harry kneed Dave in the gut, and elbowed the back of his neck, and got on top of him and punched his face several times before finally moving away from Dave's bloody body. Sara was the first to speak.

"Is he dead?"

"No, but he's paralyzed from the neck down and with the beating I gave him, he has a severe concussion, head trauma, permanent brain damage, and possible internal bleeding."

Lucas gathered the courage to speak "Was all that necessary."

"A simple thank you would have sufficed, what's your name boy?"

"Lucas, and this is my girlfriend Sara."

When Sara looked at Harry, she recognize him immediately.

"Uncle Harry!" This caused Lucas's jaw to drop.

Harry examined Sara more closely.

"Sara, what are you doing here."

"Lucas and I were enjoying a picnic when those goons showed up."

"Boyfriend, why do you have a boyfriend, or a relationship with another living thing at all."

"Lucas and I met at Hogwarts and sorta bonded."

Harry put a hand on his face and shook his head.

"It's not your fault, you're young and naive."

"What's so wrong about dating?"

"Because you can't trust anyone Sara, the world doesn't work that way."

"Uncle Harry…"

"Dark clouds began to form above them."

"Come with me you two, a nasty storm's coming, you'll never make it back to the village in time, my cabin's only a short walk from here."

"But what about them, we can't just leave them."

"Don't worry. I'll take care of them." The evil smirk that crossed his face made Lucas and Sara nervous, and with good reason.

A few minutes later Harry led Lucas and Sara to his cabin, while in the background Dave and his goons were completely naked tied up face down on the ground with their hands and feet bound behind their backs, and they were gagged to keep them from talking when they woke up. After a short walk, they arrived at the cabin and it started raining as soon as they entered.

"It's going to storm for a while, you'll have to stay here for the night."

"Where are we going to sleep?"

"You are going to sleep on the couch, Sara will have the bedroom."

"The couch, are you kidding me!"

"Would you rather sleep outside."

Lucas looked out a window and saw the curtain of pouring rain outside and paled a little.

"I didn't think so."

Harry got a blanket from a closet and gave it to Lucas.

"Thanks."

"Wouldn't want you to freeze to death now would we?"

"You're not the friendliest person are you."

"Obviously."

"Well thanks anyway."

"Whatever kid."

Harry walked over to the bedroom and saw Sara examining the room.

"It's not Potter Manor, but to me it's even better."

"This is better than Potter Manor, it feels more like home."

"I found it to be the same way to me when I bought it."

"It's nice to see you again Uncle Harry."

"You too Sara."

Harry walked into the small kitchen and got a whisky out of his small refrigerator, he took a swig and looked out the window into the rain, suddenly there was a loud crack of thunder and that's all it took. At the sound of the thunder, Harry immediately went into combat mode, he dropped the whisky bottle and ignored the pile of destroyed glass on the floor and grabbed his rifle that he kept under the kitchen sink, it was already loaded, and began shooting into the night through the window, causing it to break. Lucas ran into the room to see what was happening when Harry pulled him down.

"Get down get down!"

"What are you doing!"

"Keep your head down private!"

Harry rose to the window and continued firing.

"Cmon you sons of bitches, I'll blow your goddamn heads off!"

Sara ran into the room.

"What's going on in here?!"

"Your uncle's gone mad, he's shooting at people who aren't even there!"

"PTSD!"

"What?"

"Remember in muggle studies, some muggle soldiers suffer from post traumatic stress, and something like thunder can make them think they're back on the battlefield."

"That makes sense, but why would he react with this much intensity?"

"Look at him Luc, clearly he's seen more combat than most."

"Cmon you cowards, put up a fight!"

Sara aimed her at Harry's back and cast a powerful stunner.

"Stupify!"

"Harry slumped to the ground unconscious and Lucas picked up the rifle that had clattered to the ground.

"We need to get Uncle Harry to a healer."

"Sara, exactly who can treat this kind of sickness?"

"I know who, but we have to leave now, take my hand."

Lucas took Sara's hand they apparated to their destination and carried Harry the rest of the way. By now Harry was barely conscious, but he felt darkness reclaiming him.

"Shit"

That was all Harry could say before he blacked out, preventing him from looking at Potter Manor again.

A.N.

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