The Change made by Preparation

The Kent family was a Noble House from Scotland whose history began two hundred years after the founding of Hogwarts. The Kent Earldom was bestowed on the family by King Edward VIII, for their aid during the war against Grinderwald/Hitler. The current Earl Kent was also the second Earl of Kent, David Kent. In his youth he was a curse breaker contracted by Gringotts.

His father passed away in the 1961 and in order to fulfil his family duties, he married a young Naiad descendant he met in Greece, Alexandros Rivero, and had seven children. He had 5 sons, Gage, Elias, Howard, Riot and Cayden, along with 2 daughters Paige (twin of Gage) and Eleanor. All his children were now of age except Cayden. Cayden, as the seventh child, was also the most powerful of his children magically (because seven is a magically powerful number). That is not to say that the others were magically inferior. All his children had secured at least two masteries for themselves (Eleanor had four) and due to the recent creature blood in their family, their magical strength was immense. Cayden was however, the only child that had a high affinity for elemental magic and the only male that inherited the ability to bear children naturally (without potions) from Alexandros. This made his parents over protective of him.

Growing up, Cayden only had three friends, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood and Susan Bones. He met Neville and Susan when his father officially became steward of the Longbottom family after the death of the previous Lord and Lady Longbottom. He went to school with Luna, Neville and Susan at the Switzerland International School of the Magical Arts and learned from Lady Dowager Longbottom about being a society husband. At school Neville acted as his and the girls’ ‘protector’. He prevented the overzealous Heirs from badgering them (especially Cayden) too much in their off putting attempts to woo them. Not that Cayden needed any protection. From the age of six, he had begun training his elemental abilities with his papa until it became second nature. He was a formidable opponent when compared to others his age.

“Breathe Cayden. Deep slow breaths. Let the water flow. Don’t fight it. Become one with it,” came the string of instructions from his Papa, Lord Consort Alexandros Kent nee Rivero. When he finally sealed the laceration on the dummy with the water, he slumped in exhaustion. “You did extremely well today Cay. I am so proud of you,” complimented his papa.

“Thank you papa. May I go over to the Rookery today to spend some time with Luna papa. She has been feeling down seeing that she will be at school the whole year without her mom or dad.” Unlike his three friends, David had decided against sending Cayden to Hogwarts in September. He decided that the School of the Magical Arts was ideal for him. There he would be able to gain a Magical Mastery before graduation and make a career for himself without having to make himself marketable to a Noble House. In order to keep them at the same level, he arranged for the four friends to become summer helpers for curse breaking expeditions. This would allow them to study under ward masters and curse breakers which would lead to an early Mastery Award and possibly future employment with Gringotts. Cayden left the training room and head to his rooms to freshen up before visiting Luna.

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At Gringotts

Lord Kent followed the curse breakers through several tunnels towards the ritual room for the Magical Cleanse of his returned charge, Haddricus Potter. On the way there he was joined by the new Longbottom Heir Apparent.

“Where are we heading Lord Kent,” questioned Neville. He had yet to see his god brother and was a bit worried. “Where is Harry?” he asked looking around for him.

“We are heading to the ritual rooms to perform a magical cleanse on young Haddricus as it seems that there are some illegal enchantments placed on him.” At this Neville’s eyes widened and he increased his pace in an attempt to get to the rooms as quickly as possible.

When they finally got to the ritual room, they located an unconscious Harry laid out in a ritual circle. The circle was made up of thousands of runes and powered by crystals anchored in the ley lines running through Diagon Alley. The goblins activated the runes and the circle began to glow. At first it seemed to have no effect on Harry, until he began to glow a red so dark it could be mistaken for black. The colour was so dark it almost obscured Harry’s body from the others looking on. With no warning, the light haze shattered like glass that had been broken by a rock. The shards were absorbed into the circle. The changes it caused were seen immediately. His cheekbones became sharper, his hair became wavier and his lips became a little fuller. His shoulders also became a little broader but due to the lack of muscle he looked even more malnourished.

Before a sigh of relief could be heard, a crimson red haze of magic was brought forth from his skin. Instead of settling around Harry like a blanket though, it wrapped around his arms and chest like chains. A surge in magic was felt from the circle that caused the links in the magic to break. The magic decayed and faded into the circle with no dramatic flair. The final step of the purge focused on the entities in his scar. The magic from the circle covered Harry’s head like a towel with the area over the scar pulsating vigorously. The scar the split open and two different spirits emerged seeming to battle each other for dominance. The first spirit was pearly white and the other was ink black. When Lord Kent looked closer, he recognized the face of Lily Potter locked in a fierce duel with a face he had hoped to never see again. The second face had a slim nose and red eyes that only could belong to Lord Voldemort. The magic from the ritual circle surged again and began to attack the spirit of Voldemort. In a matter of minutes the spirit of Voldemort was absorbed into the ritual circle.

Just when it seemed to be over, the magic from the ritual circle surged again to combat the spirit of Lily Potter. The battle that began was a terrifying sight to behold for the observers. As hard as Lily’s spirit fought, the magic for the circle was even more powerful.

Just as the spirit was to be pulled into the circle however, there was another magical surge. The Potter Family Totem (the dragon) soared from Harry’s chest and wrestled control of Lily’s shade from the power of the circle. It then gently absorbed her spirit and returned to Harry’s chest quietly.

Throughout this entire episode Harry did not move or react a bit. When the circle’s power was disbanded, the curse breakers then began to run a scan on the Potter Heir. It was revealed that the purge dismantled a smaller blockage on his core that was place by his parents. When he was pronounced as cleared from external influences, Lord Kent came in and retrieved him from the circle and was escorted back to Bloodspear’s office.

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Feeling like a great weight was lifted from him Harry slowly opened his eyes. The last thing he remembered was a dragon entering his chest and an old goblin introducing himself as Bloodspear. He slowly began to analyze his surrounding when he noticed that he was still in Bloodspear’s office, but another human was currently conversing with the old goblin. He slowly sat up from where he was on the couch.

“Hi, you are finally awake. I’m Neville. Neville Longbottom, your god brother.” He turned to where the soft voice was coming from. To his right was a tall blond boy, dressed rather expensively. He flushed in embarrassment when he noticed the condition of his own garb.

“It seems that Heir Potter has finally rejoined us Lord Kent,” he heard Bloodspear say. He then focused on the final person in the room. He was a tall man, about 6ft2”, with greying brunette hair. He was well built and wore clothing as expensive as the boy who introduced himself as Neville.

“Hello Haddricus, my name is David Kent. I was a good friend of your father. Before he died he asked me to take care of you in case he couldn’t.” Harry was now puzzled.

“Haddricus, is that my name?” he asked uncertainly “sir” was quickly added before the man could feel slighted.

Lord Kent’s face morphed into a blank mask in an effort to hide his anger.

“Yes child you were named Haddricus James Potter by your parents Lillian Marie Potter nee Evans and James Charlus Potter. Did Albus not tell you this?” Lord Kent asked curiously.

“Who is Albus?” asked Harry confused

“What is the name of your guardian child?” questioned Lord Kent

“Aunt Petunia. Petunia Dursely?” answered Harry questioningly

“Well, it seems as though Dumbledore has seen it fit to contradict the will of an Ancient and Nobel House,” said Bloodspear dryly, “I wonder what consequences he would face if this was brought before the Wizengamot.”

“Wait a minute; I feel as if you are talking about me, but I have no idea what you are talking about. Who is this Dumbledore and what does he have to do with me?”

Lord Kent began, “Well Haddricus you see …”

He launched into a tale of wizarding nobility and heritage. He gave a quick overview of the history of the Potters and in particular Harry’s parents and grandparents. He then explained Ablus Dumbledore’s role in the wizarding world and how he made it possible for Harry to stay with his maternal Aunt. He also explained how schooling was done in the wizarding world.

At the end of his long and convoluted tale Lord Kent asked, “Do you have any questions Harry?”

“How am I supposed to know all this? No one ever told me that I am basically royalty here!” he exclaimed.

“Fret not child. Lord Kent here was charged with your education by your parents. He could not execute this however due to him being unable to locate you. Blame your lack of knowledge on Albus Dumbledore,” soothed Bloodspear.

“Who escorted you to Diagon Alley, Haddricus?”

At the sound of his name Harry beamed in pride. “Hagrid said … Dumbledore asked him to escort me. I guess this is not a good thing?”

“I believe Hagrid has no ill intentions towards you. He however does not have the authority or the expertise to introduce you to our world due to his lack of education.” Upon seeing Harry’s protesting face, he pressed forward in hopes to quell his fire, “He was expelled from Hogwarts before completing his basic wizard training and has no legal wand. This makes him an unsuitable escort. What would happen if you were to be mobbed by adoring fans? He has no way to protect you besides his size, which can be dealt with easily.” At the end of this rant, he could see understanding showing in Harry’s eyes.

“Why don’t we escort him Lord Kent? As his family Steward and his god brother it is expected that we would look after him right?” Neville suggested. “I hope we can get to know each other and be as close as real brothers Harry,” finished Neville shyly.

At his last statement, Harry’s face broke into a great smile.

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It took very little time for them to make a decision. Harry would delay his Hogwarts purchase today in favor of taking introductory courses at the School of Magical Arts for the rest of the summer. It was also decided that wardrobe would be obtained after his potion regimen was complete. He also opted to have his physical guardianship be transferred to Lord Kent based on the fact that he is yet to meet the elusive Albus Dumbledore. His glasses were then charmed by the Healers of Gringotts to change with his improving sight.

When he returned to the lobby, a sick looking Hagrid sat waiting on him. Upon seeing Lord Kent his face twisted in incomprehension. Lord Kent explained to him that he was now Harry’s guardian based on his parents will and that Harry had no further need of his service but he was grateful for his friendship. All this time Harry stood silent behind Lord Kent.

As Hagrid walked away, still slightly confused, Harry let out a sigh in relief that there was no confrontation.

“Let us go to the pet store to get you a pet Harry. What do you say? Birthday present for all the missed years?” asked Lord Kent. With wide eyes, Harry nodded with muted excitement. The party of three left the hall of the bank and travelled down Diagon Alley. They then turned on another Alley named Vertical Alley. The first pet store they encountered was called Artimis Glade. A disconcerting pull guided harry into the store and led him down the aisle to the snake tanks. The creature he saw there was small and yellow in colour.

“Ahhhh, this animal is known as a Storm Herald. They act as familiars to Wind Elementals. Tell me child do you feel drawn to it,” an inquisitive voice interrupted Harry’s thoughts. When Harry nodded, Lord Kent stepped forward,

“How much is it?”

“For the young elemental, 50 galleons.”

“Here is 60G. I hope this visit had never happened,” stated the older man to the proprietor.

“Of course my Lord, is there any other way I can help you?”

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They made their way down Diagon Alley back to the Leakey Cauldron. As they walked Lord Kent explained the Floo System and how it works.

“It will take practice to do it gracefully so don’t be embarrassed. Remember to speak clearly and decisively.”

Standing before the fire place, he watched as Neville used the system. Harry’s main thoughts were in his new familiar that was wrapped around his forearm and how his life has and will change. He accepted the floo powder from Lord Kent and stepped into the fireplace. He followed Lord Kent’s instruction.

“Kent Family Manor,” he called out. The sensation that followed was both exhilarating and nauseating in equal measure.