CHAPTER 1: A DIFFERENT ENDING
31st October 1990
In the Godrics Hollow lived an extraordinary family of five. Calling them extraordinary would be an understatement because, in reality, they were a family of witches and wizards. It was a family which included a loving mother, a doting father, a son of 3 years old, a twin brother and a sister.
The mother was a redhead named Lily Potter nee Evans. She was an excellent mother who took care of her children. She was also an unspeakable person, though nobody needed to know that. James Potter was the father of children. He was an auror and a duellist. He was a transfiguration master.
The house was full of chatter and giggling of the youngest son named Charles. He was about fourteen months old, along with his twin sister Rosy Potter, who nuzzled him as they rested in the crib.
"Oh look, James, isn't he just the cutest boy in the world?" Lily Potter cooed at her son, who was giggling while his sister tickled him. Harry Potter, the eldest son, glared playfully at her.
"Oh, don't be like that, Harry; you are still my favourite and the most handsome young man", Lily, seeing Harry's glare, responded hastily, which immediately turned into a smile at hearing this. Lily understood that she was duped, put Harry on her knee, and started tickling him. James, seeing this, winked at his eldest son, who winked back, surprising James into full-blown laughter. Lily glared at them half-heartedly but could not keep her lips from twitching.
While inside the house, the atmosphere was friendly and calm, the outside world was in chaos because of a particular dark lady. The dark lady named Voldemort. She had thrown the world into chaos. Her followers were gradually increasing, and they would wreak havoc by killing families. Their goal was muggle eradication. Muggles are people with no magic.
The house was hidden with the help of a charm named Fidelius Charm. It was a charm needed to hide places and people. The reason for this charm was due to a prophecy. It mentioned a child born at the end of July who will have the power to defeat the dark lady. Only three children were in that category: the Potter twins and Neville Longbottom. So, both of these families went into hiding.
Today, Frank and Alice were going on a date, so they decided to drop Neville at the Potters. It was the safest way for them to enjoy their freedom. But this story is not about any of them. This story is about the eldest son of the Potters, Harry Potter.
Harry Potter was a curious child. He liked solving things and playing Legos, which also included building things. The eldest Potter was such an intelligent child that he could start reading at the age of two and writing at the age of three. He was also very powerful. He did his first accidental magic at just two months old. The usual age for such a thing is around eighteen to twenty-four months. Powerful children started them around twelve months.
Harry knew his parents needed to go into hiding to save his younger siblings, whom he loved more than anything. The day the prophecy was known, he promised his mother he would protect his siblings from everything. He loved to learn things about magic. He had already read about ten per cent of the Potter Library, which has books on every magic-related subject. He wanted to be strong to protect his siblings and fulfil his promise to his mother.
As Harry thought this, a commotion was heard downstairs, followed by the door being blown apart. He knew immediately what had happened from his parent's panicking faces as they ran down the door. For the first time in his very short life, he felt a feeling he had never known before - fear.
Meanwhile downstairs
James POV
He saw a serpentine figure entering the gateway and felt helpless as his worst fears came true.
"Lily, Take the children and go", James requested his wife, and she ran up the stairs. He knew the most he could do right now was delay as much as he could by using himself as the bait. He was not a match for Lady Voldemort by any standards. He was a great duellist, one of the best in the world, but he knew he was no match for the magical titan. He also did not have a wand on him.
He tried to attack wandlessly, but was repelled easily. He saw a red flash, and pain in his heart grew to helplessness. He fell unconscious and on the verge of dying. Lady Voldemort went upstairs.
Lily's POV
She grabbed the children, took him to his room, put him in his crib, and began throwing anything she could find at the door, so Voldemort couldn't get in. She heard a cry from the living room.! James was dead. She is the children's only chance. The door was blasted open. Time was running out... She thought of Wormtail and how she'd never forgive him for betraying them...she hoped that the children would grow up with Sirius, a caring godfather and her dead husband's best friend...and of Remus, who'd check in and ensure they're okay...she hoped that they would somehow survive…
"Harry, Be brave; Mama Loves you, Dada Loves you, be brave, my son. Please protect them all. Please tell them that Mama loves them a lot." Lily smiled tearly at her eldest son, who was crying, but he wiped his tears, nodded at her, and launched onto her for a hug. He started sobbing."
"Be strong, my son, be strong", Lily said as a farewell as she stared at the door blasted open.
"Stand aside, you silly girl!" Voldemort cried. Lily refused. She would rather die than let her son get killed. She had to fight. "Have mercy, take me, kill me!" Lily flung her arms out, shielding her only son from harm. As she prayed that Harry would make it out alive and grow to be strong, she heard a scream, saw a flash of light, and was gone.
Voldemort's POV
Voldemort then moved his focus to the four children. The eldest was insignificant for her as he was not born in July. So she focused on the Longbottom boy, who was crying and was unimpressive in terms of magical power. She ignored him and focused on the twins. She was shocked to see the magical power in them. They could rival her and Dumbledore when they grew up. But she was not going to risk it. She was very close to conquering Britain.
"Avada Kedavra", Voldemort whispered as she pointed her wand at the girl with red hair and green eyes. But what happened next surprised her: a blue shield went in front of her and stopped the curse, which rebounded on the shield, and she could not move in time as she was hit with it and disintegrated into ashes.
Harry's POV
Harry glared at Voldemort, who looked at his siblings maliciously in her gaze. He did not know much about magic as he had not yet reached his first maturity and could not protect his siblings. But he knew one thing: magic was practised through intent and emotion. So he focused all his intent on protecting his siblings and fueled it with his emotions of love and protection for his siblings. He used all his magical power and a blue shield to protect his siblings. He started feeling tired.
"Edie", Harry called the house-elf, who popped up and cried as she saw the body of Lily.
"Edie, take my siblings to Potter Manor and preserve my mother's and father's body there and put all the golems here. The world should think that they died today so that they can be safe until they can protect each other." Harry ordered in a sad but firm tone.
"But little Master, Master and mistress are alive, just injured", Edie said as she looked at her master pitifully. Harry was shocked and ran to check on his mother. He found her breathing, like his father's. But they were all heavily injured.
"Edie, take all of them except Longbottom here to the Potter manor and treat my parents to the best of your ability. I think they are in a coma. Please do it and place four golems with their faces. I will be used as bait, as Dumbledore believes in prophecy, and he will harm my siblings for his purpose. The portrait of Grandfather is right about his manipulation. Otherwise, why did we leave a fully unplottable Potter Manor in the first place? Please protect them and heal them with the help of Grandma Dorea's portrait." Harry said authoritatively, and Edie nodded.
"I understand, Master." Edie nodded and bowed as she left the room distressed. She understood the sacrifice her young master was making. But she did not like it. She will try to protect him to the best of his ability. Yes, she would. But she also knew that her young master was brilliant and he would call her at the right time himself. She would wait till then.