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Harry Potter and the Butterfly Effect | ||||||
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Category: Alternate Universe Characters:Harry/Ginny Genres: Action/Adventure Warnings: Death, Disturbing Imagery, Extreme Language, Intimate Sexual Situations, Rape, Spouse/Adult/Child Abuse, Violence/Physical Abuse Story is Complete Rating: R Reviews: 733 Summary: Minor events can have repercussions far beyond their size and importance. When one of these minor events occurs to a ten year-old Harry Potter he finds his world turned upside-down and it starts him down a very different path than the one he expected to follow. Hitcount: Story Total: 199426; Chapter Total: 9369 Awards: View Trophy Room Author's Notes: A short chapter by the standards of this story but some important things happen that will impact on the way the story unfolds. Many thanks to Tom (MinistryMalcontent) for his great beta work and pointing out a large plot hole which would have come back to bite me on the bum in later chapters. |
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Thursday, 17 January 1991 Perry couldn’t believe it had been three months since Harry had come to live with them. Her life had come to revolve around the boy, and she loved every second of it. Knowing what a dreadful home he came from, she could not get over how well he had turned out. He was a polite and hard-working child who loved his lessons. Harry seemed to be of the opinion that learning magic was a great privilege and one not to be taken lightly. Privately, Perry suspected that the boy was afraid that if he didn’t study hard enough he might be sent back to the Dursleys, despite all their assurances that would never happen. In any event, Harry should have had no worries about his magical talent. Nicholas had always been a good teacher, but even he was amazed at how fast Harry was picking things up. Initially, they had decided to school Harry just in the core subjects of Transfiguration and Charms to give him a basic grounding, but he had done so well that they had just started teaching him the curriculum he would have learnt at Hogwarts in his first year. Defence Against the Dark Arts and Potions had been added to his lessons, and he was also being given starters in Arithmancy, Astronomy and Ancient Runes. They had decided that Divinisation and Magical History could largely be bypassed, while Care of Magical Creatures would have to wait until they could arrange access to the appropriate beasts. There were other successes as well. Perry’s potions were working wonders, and Harry had already grown a couple of inches in height. A proper diet and her strengthening potion had also meant the boy was filling out a bit. While still quite thin, he no longer looked unhealthy. To help him grow and to stretch his muscles, Perry had started Harry doing yoga in the mornings. She had always believed it was a good way to start the day, and now she and Harry always spent an hour each morning practicing various exercises. The growth potion always worked better if it was used in tandem with physical exercises anyway, and Harry was reaping the benefits. The eyesight restorative worked perfectly as well, and Harry had been able to abandon his taped-up glasses completely. It was a shame the potion was so expensive otherwise more people could benefit from it. Another thing Harry had loved was his first broom ride. They had gone to Bodmin Moor and, with the aid of a few Muggle repelling charms, allowed Harry to take his first flight. The boy was a natural. Dumbledore had told them that Harry’s father had been a superb flyer, and it was clear Harry had inherited his skill. Only after several hours had a clearly reluctant Harry landed, and they had needed to promise they would come back soon before he could tear himself away. Generally, things couldn’t be going better. At the moment, she and Harry were walking down the High Street of the small Cornish village near their home. Normally, when visiting the place she would be wearing a strong repelling charm which would cause any Muggle who saw her or even talked to her to forget the meeting completely seconds after she left. They had lived in their current home for over one hundred and ten years now, and without the magical camouflage, people might well have noticed that she never aged. Since Harry had arrived, she had decided to do without the charm anymore. For one thing, it would do Harry good to have a sense of community, even if the locals knew him by the name of Harry Burns. And anyway, since they had decided to destroy the Philosopher’s Stone, she would probably only have a limited number of years left, not that they had told Harry that, of course. As they wandered down the street, she noticed Harry’s attention being caught by activity over by the small village hall. A number of adults were leading their children into the building or dropping off slightly older youths. Several of them appeared to be wearing white pyjama-like outfits. “What’s going on over there, Perry?” Harry asked. She shrugged. “I really don’t know, Harry. Do you want to take a look?” Harry nodded and pulled her over the road towards the single story building. A large notice board stood outside and lists of various activities and events were listed on it. A brief investigation showed that tonight the hall was being used for a Taekwondo group for under-sixteen year olds. Harry immediately asked what that was. “I believe it’s a type of Muggle martial art. That’s learning to defend yourself without weapons,” she explained. Seeing Harry’s look of interest, she suggested they go in and watch. Entering the hall they saw that the group consisted of about fifteen children of various ages with a couple of adult instructors. Most of the group were just finishing getting changed and were helping putting out mats over the floor. “Can I help you?” A voice came abruptly from nearby, startling both of them. Perry turned and saw a large, aggressive-looking woman dressed in one of the white suits which was secured with a black belt around the middle. Perry guessed this must be the instructor. The woman certainly looked like she would be useful in a fight. “Oh, hello.” Perry forced a smile onto her face. “My grandson and I were just passing, and he expressed an interest on what was going on here, so we thought we would pop in and take a look.” The woman nodded while looking Harry up and down. “We take children of any age, up to sixteen when they transfer to the adult group. Training is once a week, although our best pupils sometimes enter local tournaments which would involve extra weekend training. My names Emma Eales, by the way. I’m chief instructor. Nearly made the Great Britain Olympic team a few years back, but just missed out.” The woman offered her hand and then proceeded to nearly crush Perry’s hand to dust. “I’m Perry Burns and this is Harry. He’s ten years old,” she said, trying not to wince. “Ten?” Emma questioned. “He’s rather small for a ten year old, isn’t he?” “All the males on his side of the family were just the same. They were all were really short when young and then suddenly shot up,” Perry lied. She knew full well that the growth potion she had been giving Harry was starting to cut in, and he would be experiencing some impressive growth spurts in coming months. “Ah, I had a cousin who was the same. Tiny little thing, he was, then as soon as he hit his teen years — boom! He’s six foot four now,” Emma nodded, eyeing Harry sympathetically. Harry’s attention, however, was fully on the other students who were lining up and starting some stretching exercises. “Look, granny,” he exclaimed, “they’re doing stuff just like our yoga exercises!” “Yoga? The boy does yoga?” Emma asked in surprise. “I’ve been doing it for years and Harry enjoys joining in,” Perry explained. “Besides, the doctors told us it will help him grow.” “Well, if he’s doing yoga that should be a big help if he wants to start doing Taekwondo,” Emma said approvingly. “Why don’t you stick around and watch the training session? If you’re still interested in Harry joining the group, we can chat at the end.” Judging by the fascinated expression on Harry’s face, Perry doubted she could have dragged him out of the hall if she tried. Taking seats against the far wall, they watched the children going through their practice sessions; and at the end several of the older students sparred against each other. Perry had to admit she was quite impressed at the skills shown by the children and wondered if allowing Harry to join the group would be a good idea. On the plus side it would do wonders for Harry’s confidence, and it would give him a chance to mingle with other kids his age. Her only real worry was the boy’s control of his magic. To be fair, he was making great strides regarding this; and he hadn’t had an outburst of accidental magic for months. Silently, she made a decision. “What do you think, Harry? Is this something you would like to do?” she asked him. Harry’s face lit up. “Can I?” he asked excitedly. “I would love to do this!” “Come on, then. We’ll go and speak to Emma about getting you enrolled.” Perry led the eager young boy over to where Emma was stood, a membership form already in her hand. Friday, 5 April 1991 Nicholas and Perenelle sat in the garden of their home and watched the sun slowly set. Although summer had yet to arrive, it was still warm enough to sit outside; and they intended to make the most of it while they had the chance. Cornwall generally had a fairly mild climate but the spring rains were not uncommon. After a rather unpleasant winter, having such a nice day had been very welcome. Harry was currently upstairs finishing off an essay Nick had set him, and the Flamels were using his absence to discuss him. “Well, Dumbledore will be wanting another progress report soon. What shall we tell him?” Perry asked her husband. “The truth. That Harry is doing exceptionally well in his studies and has already learnt pretty much all of Hogwarts first-year curriculum. He’s just starting the second-year lessons now,” Nick said with obvious pride in his voice. “Do we tell him exactly how you are teaching Harry?” she asked. “What, you mean me imparting the information directly into his mind via Legilimency? I don’t feel the need to mention it, but I would be extremely surprised if Dumbledore hasn’t guessed that’s what I’m doing anyway. It has always been a favoured teaching technique of mine. For a boy who eleven months ago wasn’t even aware magic existed to have learnt so much in so short a time is bound to raise some suspicions. Besides, he’s still reading the reference material and completing all the course work.” Perry nodded. “Of course, no matter what you taught him, it would be meaningless unless he had the natural talent. He’s going to be so powerful when he grows up. I’m sure he will do great things.” “Me, too,” Nick agreed. “More so because of the type of person he is. I can’t believe he’s turned out so well after suffering all that abuse at the hands of the Dursleys. I struggle to believe he’s only eleven sometimes.” “The fact he’s shot up so much probably helps,” she smiled. In the last few months Harry had gone from being a tiny, undersized child to a gangling youth taller than most other boys his age. He was still quite thin, but the morning yoga and his weekly Taekwondo sessions were starting to give him a wiry strength. “His personality has changed, too,” Nick commented. “He’s a lot more outgoing than he was when he first arrived. Those Taekwondo lessons are really giving him some confidence.” “It’s nice that he’s made some friends as well. One little girl called Lisa has really latched onto him. She insists that he partners her whenever they spar. I think he was afraid he would hurt her the first time they were partnered together, until she threw him on his back four times in a row.” Perry chuckled as she remembered Harry’s shock at being beaten by a small girl a year younger than him. “Still, I do worry about him being out of my sight and outside the protective wards.” Nick pondered that for a second. “We could create a detection bracelet for him. Do you remember we made one for that Earl who was worried about his daughter, back in the eighteen hundreds?” he suggested. “That’s an excellent idea. We’ll charm it so it can’t be removed or even noticed. That way we’ll be able to track him wherever he is,” Perry smiled in relief. She couldn’t help but get worried whenever she didn’t know Harry's exact location. “One other thing,” Nick said. “I think it’s time Harry had a wand of his own. He’s been doing brilliantly with that spare wand of yours, but he really needs one matched to him.” Perry considered that for a moment. “Are our wards strong enough to prevent the Ministry detecting Harry performing magic if he’s using a wand of his own? We don’t exactly want to advertise his presence here,” she said with concern. “I think we’ll be alright,” Nick confirmed. “I know a few spells to confuse the trace on Harry and to mask his magical signature. In fact, I may just remove the trace altogether. It would probably be for the best, all things considered. The power he puts into some spells just using a borrowed wand is amazing. If he’s using a wand that chose him he’ll probably be setting magical detectors off every five minutes unless we do something about it.” “Superb,” Perry smiled. “We’ll take Harry to Diagon Alley next week to get his wand and report to Dumbledore that he’s doing well. We just won’t tell him how well. I don’t want him turning poor Harry into a weapon. That’s just the sort of thing he would do.” Nick smiled. “I rather think Albus would have a heart attack if he realised exactly how much we know about him and his past. He really should have guessed that his Occlumency shields would be no match for us.” “Rather arrogant of the man,” Perry snorted, “but perfectly in character for him, I suppose. I really don’t trust that man anymore.” “Neither do I, my love, neither do I,” Nick replied. Thursday, 11 April 1991 Harry looked around him excitedly. This was his first trip to Diagon Alley, and having heard so much about the place, he couldn’t wait to explore. Apart from the usual glamour charm he wore to hide his scar, his hair had also been changed to a light brown colour. As he no longer wore glasses and he was considerably taller than most boys his age, he was confident no-one would recognise him as ‘the boy who lived’. He hardly believed it when Nick and Perry had told him about his past and his apparent defeat of the evil Lord Voldemort when he was just fifteen months old. However, their explanation of his parents' death triggered some dark memory in the back of his mind. He’d dreamed of a woman screaming and of a flash of green light many times before, and he was horrified that this might actually be a memory of his mother being killed in front of him. That the man who had killed her was also gone was of little comfort, especially as Nick had hinted that he might return one day. Harry shook his head and tried to dispel the dark thoughts he was having. Diagon Alley looked wonderful and with his disguise in place he should appear to be just a normal boy out shopping with his grandparents. The idea that people might start fawning over him for something his mother did to protect him was abhorrent to him. They made their way down the Alley, pausing to look in shop windows occasionally. Harry suspected that Perry wanted to hold his hand as they walked, but he had quickly stopped that. Not that he had anything against holding his adopted grandmother's hand, but he was ten years old after all. He’d reminded her that he was wearing his bracelet so she would know where he was at all times which had seemed to pacify her. First stop on their shopping trip was Ollivander’s to buy his wand. This alone was enough to make him giddy with excitement. His own wand! They entered the dark shop, and a rather strange looking man appeared at the counter at the sound of the door-bell. The man looked straight at Harry, ignoring Nick and Perry completely. “Ah, Mr Potter. I wasn’t expecting to see you another few months yet. Here for your wand, are you?” the man asked. Harry was stunned. How on earth had the man known who he was? Beside him he could feel Nick stir uncomfortably. “I would really prefer if Harry’s identity could be kept to ourselves, Mr Ollivander,” Nick asked in a cool voice. The shopkeeper just chuckled. “Well, this is a rarity. It’s so infrequent that I get visitors to my shop that I didn’t sell their first wand to. Of course, it was somewhat before my time when you were purchasing your first wand, Mr Flamel.” Ollivander gave Nick a leering smile which sent shivers up Harry’s back. “But no matter. It’s time to find this fine young man a wand.” And with that Ollivander shot into the back of his shop and moments later returned with an armful of small, oblong-shaped boxes which he dropped onto the counter. Selecting the first one, he opened it and removed a wand made of some light-coloured wood. “Give this a try, young sir,” he said, handing the wand to Harry. Harry took the wand and gave it a wave. A few sparks shot out but it felt wrong in his hand, like the magic had to be dragged from him. “No, no, no. That will never do!” Ollivander scowled. He snatched the wand out of Harry’s hand and replaced it with another. Harry waved this one and a stack of boxes which had neatly been sat in one corner flew into the air and came crashing down around them. The wand was snatched from Harry’s hand again and a new one provided. The process proved extremely frustrating. Harry had tried twenty wands and results ranged from producing a few feeble sparks to blowing out several windows. Ollivander didn’t appear discouraged, however. In fact, he seemed to be enjoying himself. Finally, he stopped and regarded Harry with a critical eye. “I wonder,” he muttered to himself before vanishing out the back again. When he returned he was holding a single box. “Holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple; an unusual combination,” he informed them before handing Harry the wand. The second Harry wrapped his fingers around the wand, he knew it was the right one for him. A shower of sparks shot from the wand so bright that all present had to shield their eyes. Harry stared in wonder. He could feel the power rippling up his arm and he couldn’t wait to start using the wand. Ollivander just chortled. “I think we have a winner!” he announced with glee. “Curious that this is the wand that picked you, though. You see, the brother of this wand was responsible for giving you that well hidden scar on your forehead, Mr Potter.” Harry shuddered at the thought that his wand was a brother to the one carried by Voldemort. Nick hurried forward and paid for the wand, obviously keen to be out of the shop as quickly as possible. “I will be expecting great things from you and that wand, Mr Potter,” Ollivander called as they were just about to go through the door. Harry just nodded and hurried through the door. After his encounter with Ollivander, Harry felt his enthusiasm for looking around the Alley dampened. His spirits only really picked up when they entered the bookshop. Since he had come to live with the Flamels, Harry had become a ferocious reader and devoured books at a tremendous rate. Of course, there was a huge library at home that he had barely scratched the surface of, but Flourish and Blotts offered a whole new variety of reading material. Among the books selected were a few on magical history (Nick and Perry had stated they had lived through most of the events described in history books so they didn’t need to read about them), a defence book which caught his eye and one about Quidditch. He took his books to the counter to pay for them. “Thank you,” smiled the sales wizard as Harry placed his purchases in front of him. “You not in school, then?” “Um, no. I’m home schooled,” Harry responded, somewhat surprised at being asked. “It’s just that it’s rare to see anyone your age in here at this time of the year. I would have expected you’d be at Hogwarts,” the man continued conversationally while ringing up Harry’s book. “You don’t know what you’re missing, being home schooled. Fine establishment Hogwarts! And the headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, he’s a great wizard, he is!” “We prefer to educate our grandson ourselves, thank you very much,” came Perry’s voice from behind Harry. “And I would appreciate you not questioning our choices.” “Sorry, no offence intended!” the wizard apologised quickly. “I’m sure you’re doing a fine job with the boy.” “Quite,” snapped Perry before scooping up Harry’s books and leading him from the shop. In a quiet corner a man watched the exchange with interest. The woman had seemed familiar to him but if she was indeed who he thought she was, she didn’t have a grandson. Which begged the question, who was the boy? The man tapped his cane thoughtfully against his leg and ran a hand through his long, blond hair as he watched Perenelle Flamel leave the shop with the mysterious young boy. |
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