Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter One: Atlanta Burning

A lone figure stood on a rooftop surveying the scene around him, green eyes seeming to glow with a power unknown to the people in the department store two buildings away. So far, no one seemed to have noticed him, not even the man on said building's roof. This meant they were either entirely unobservant of their surrounding, or they Were preoccupied with something.

The silent observer was fairly sure it was the latter of the two options given that there was another figure that had shown up on horseback, been surrounded by a heard of the dead, and scrambled into a nearby abandoned tank.

smiling to himself, he pulled out a handheld Ham Radio he'd nicked from an electronics store a couple of days earlier and hit the auto-scan button.

It was only a couple of seconds before he heard a youngish guy's voice say, "Hey, dumbass. You in the tank. You Comfortable? "

The green-eyed observer, none-other than a newly newly deaged, seventeen year old Harry Potter, couldn't help the amused sort of laughter that escaped him at the words he heard. . He was pretty sure that, given a chance, he and whoever the guy was would be good friends.

This idea was further confirmed as he listened to the conversation . He really couldn't fathom the way this new guy in the tank could have been unaware that there would be hordes of the undead roaming a large city like Atlanta.Though he did have to give him props for choosing a horse to get around on. No need to worry about petrol that way.

As he watched, the guy managed to get away from the horde, shooting his way through to the nearby alley where an Asian looking guy stood waiting. Harry released a breath he hadn't even known he was holding, beyond relieved that the man had made it safely.

Then, just as he was about to leave, heading back to his own people, he heard the report of a high caliber rifle, and looked back at the building, only to see a man gleefully chambering another round and taking aim at a nearby walker.

Swearing loudly, the teen turned on the spot and aparated away.

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Inside a department store in the heart of Atlanta, Rick Grimes was trying desperately to calm the woman, who he now knew was Andrea, as she pointed a handgun at his forehead. The situation had immediately become deadly tense as soon as the door to the loading dock had been closed.

."We're all dead! You've as good as killed us."

The look on her face was one of terror and grief, not that Rick really understood the reason for it.

As if sensing the former deputy's confusion, another of the group added, "Every walker in ten miles heard those shots, man. You just rang the dinner bell. You follow me?"

Now everyone's fear made a lot more sense, and he was about to say something, but was interrupted by the sound of a rifle going off.

The woman, Andrea, glanced at the ceiling with a look of horrified disbelief. "Was that Dixon? That man's wasting bullets we don't have."

As one, the entire group turned and hurried up the stairs to the roof, just in time to hear another round go off. Cursing, Rick sped up, taking the stairs two at a time.

Preparing himself for an ugly confrontation, the former deputy burst through the door to the roof only to have his jaw drop at the situation that greeted him.

On the ground near the edge of the roof, a balding man dressed in black cargo pants and a black wife beater, lay still, silent, and hog-tied while a kid of no more than sixteen or seventeen, was leaning back against the wall of the roof, twirling a stick in his hand, and looking extremely self-satisfied.

"Hello, ladies and gents."

This flippant greeting was met by renewed disbelief by everyone present. Rick, himself, found that he really wanted to pinch himself, it was that unreal.

Finally, though, Glenn- the young man who has rescued him- said, "Who the hell are you? And, more importantly, how the hell did you get up here?"

Harry just gave an ironic chuckle, truly amused at the question. Of course he couldn't blame them for their surprise, after all, as far as they knew magic didn't exist. Of course, if he were honest he would have to admit that he had absolutely no idea how he was going to explain the situation, to say nothing of how they were going to react. But, as a wise person once said, in for a penny in for a pound.

"What I'm about to tell you is going to sound absolutely ridiculous. Impossible even. But it will be finished with a demonstration."

At this pronouncement, everyone around him exchanged apprehensive glances. So, taking a deep breath, he began to explain,"First, my name is Harry. Just Harry. As to the rest, it gets rather complicated. Have any of you ever seen or read The Lord of the Rings?"

Most everyone gave reluctant nods, obviously completely thrown by the question and unsure of where this was going, but it was the best he had to start with, so he continued, "As to what I am, I am a wizard. And yes that means magic, as in Merlin, Gandalf, and other such magical characters. And yes, I do use a wand, and I know how to do potions. Though potions isn't exactly my strong suit.

"I know what you're thinking, this is absolutely impossible magic doesn't exist. Believe me I thought the same thing when I first found out when I was 11 years old. As to how old I am, even though you never asked, chronologically I am 38 but someone somewhere thought it would be funny to cast a deaging spell, making me around 17 years old.

"As to how that's possible, I have absolutely no idea. On another note, I was listening in to your conversation while deputy here was in the tank. Then I noticed gunshots coming from this rooftop, and figured I should probably stop this dumbass from continuing a rampage that would probably get a bunch of people killed. He can be transported like this for safety if you prefer. And no he's not dead, he's just stunned. Better for everybody that way."

To say the party in front of him was flabbergasted was an understatement, which was made clear by the blank expressions on their faces and the fact that no one seemed to have an immediate reply to his monologue. Something he was very familiar with, and given that they've been through prior to the last couple of months. On a positive note, he was somewhat relieved that no one was simply shouting at him, which never helped anything it only made matters tense.

Finally, apparently being the most reasonable group, deputy said, "For the time being, I think I'm going to leave the whole magic thing and the aging thing alone, and ask the obvious question first. How in the hell were you listening in to our conversation?"

Harry was impressed, not many people would have started there, being pragmatic, but then that had been a big part of this man's life before all this happened and the dead started rising again. So, to aid in his explanation, he pulled his handheld out of one of his pockets and replied, "From one of my own supply runs a couple of months ago, I found this handy little device. It's not a walkie-talkie, and it is not a CB radio. It's much more than that- it's a handheld ham radio, complete with rechargeable batteries, extendable antenna with a range of about 15 miles, and an auto scanner. It's how I found your frequency."

This time, it was the young Asian looking guy who found his voice first. "Okay, so that explains that, except that I didn't know that portable Ham radios had features like that. The fact that it has auto scan I mean."

Before Harry could reply, the blonde lady blonde observed, "You know I just realized, we haven't introduced ourselves yet. Might be a good place to start just in case."

Looking both flummoxed in a little bit sheepish, the Asian guy decided that he was going to take a point on this one, pointing to each of his comrades in turn. "I'm Glenn, that's Andrea, then we have Rick, t-dog, Morales, Jackie, the guy you hog-tied and knocked out is Merle dixon. The guy's a bona fide an asshole if ever there was one."

Snorting in derisive amusement, Harry reintroduced himself in turn, glad that, so far, the group hadn't given a negative reaction to his revelations. In fact, they all simply looked lost as to how they should respond at all.

Finally, Glenn decided he would break the silence. "So, when you say that you've been deaged, do you actually mean that literally? And how does that even work?"

Once again, Harry found that he was immensely impressed. That that was the biggest thing that he was concerned about made him feel a little better about his odds with regards to this groups reception of him, magic and all. "Not really sure, to tell you the truth. All I know is that one minute I'm going to sleep as a 22-year-old, and the next I'm waking up in a 12-year-old body. Even with all that I've learned in my life so far, I never actually read anything about something like that happening. And then of course the dead started rising again. So I went from weird to impossible overnight literally."

Rick gave a frown of confusion and distaste. For a second, Harry thought the man might be about to say something derogatory about his magic, but needn't have worried, as he said, "That's....I actually don't know how to respond to that, other than to say I have a feeling it had to be confusing and disorienting as hell. How did you manage to make the switch in your mind. Without going crazy?"

With a wry grin, seeing most of the others nodding in agreement, he quipped, "Who says I'm not crazy now?"

Rick and the others chuckled at that, Glenn saying, "That's a fair point, I guess. Though I have a feeling that most of us are probably a little crazy ourselves at this point."

After a beat, Andrea sighed and scrubbed at her face with one hand, gun held loosely in the other. "The question now is how the hell we get out of here without one or more of us winding up as walker bait?"

Harry broke into a mischievous grin, looking forward to their upcoming reactions as he slid the gun bag he'd seen Rick drop when scrambling for the tank and was rewarded by a sharp intake of breath from the former deputy. "How in the hell did you manage to get ahold of tha?"

Once more twirling the stick in his right hand, the wizard smirked, "Magic." When all he got was a bunch of confused looks from his audienc, he added, "There's a spell that can be used to summon virtually anything." Opening the bag and pulling out a hand gun, he held it up for them to see. "I also managed to make some useful modifications with rune magic while you were still stuck in the tank. Runes that improve accuracy and enable true silencing. Even on the shotguns."

To prove his point, he aimed at a can he'd set up on the nearby ledge earlier and pulled the trigger. Everyone around him gasped in surprise when a bullet hit the can dead on with no noise from the discharge.

After a couple of minutes, he grinned again, tossing the gun to Glenn and handing the bag to Rick. Then he uttered his favorit and often used line, "I really love magic."

After a few beats, Glenn asked, "What else can you do? I don't suppose you could help get us out of here with our skin intact?"

Having already given the matter a lot of thought, the wizard nodded, smiling softly. "I can, though a group effort will, ultimately be more successful. I can do a lot, but even with magic, I have limits to what I can do. Though I think the first order of business is getting in touch with your people. Letting them know that your situation has improved.

"I don't mind you telling them about me, though I ask you to be as vague as possible for me the moment. I would prefer to explain myself to everyone face to face."

With that, he handed T-dog the handheld and left the roof.

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At the quarry, the main group puttered around doing various chores and trying desperately not to dwell on the last transmission they'd heard from their group back in the city.

The leader, another former deputy named Shane, sat at his jeep frowning intensely at what he'd heardheard, trying not to beat himself for the way things had apparently gone. That was the thing about leadership that always got to him, being responsible for all the good and all the bad that all the lives underneath your control. Before all this, before the dead started walking again, it was the reason why he always Rick lead. Much as he didn't like to admit it, Rick was good at it, shouldered it without a second thought, whereas Shane tended to be something of an asshole.

It wasn't that he didn't care, sometimes he cared a little too much. He wasn't one that really knew how to deal with stuff like that, so it generally came out wrong. And now, with Rick so long gone, and everyone here having noticed his bearing and Lori having told everyone about his former profession, that they looked to him for every major decision, sometimes even the little ones too, and it was almost enough to driving to distraction from time to time.

In the midst of these thoughts, old man Dale, who usually kept watch from atop his trusty old RV, startled him, saying, "It's important that you not be too hard on yourself, son. Yours is a job that I, quite frankly, don't envy you. Top that off with the fact that it's one you never asked for but were expected to do because you used to be a cop and it's no wonder you would be stressed something fierce."

In usual fashion, the former deputy just grunted, once again unsure as to how the old man managed to be so perceptive. When Shane didn't give a verbal reply, Dale continued, " I would like to think that there's still hope for them. After all, what are the chances a group like ours would come together in times like these and, for the most part, get along? Or that times you like these would happen at all?"

Shane nodded thoughtfully, having to concede the man's point.

He was just about to say something when the radio crackled to life again. "T-dog to home base, anyone copy?"

Shane gave Dale a startled look, then scrambled up the ladder to the roof of the RV, fumbling a bit with the mic on the CB

"T-dog, this is Shane, come back."

After a second or two, the radio came to life, T-dog's voice sounding crystal clear. "Shane, the group and I are still at the department store, still stuck at the moment but fine. No one is injured, and we're working on a plan to get out of here. Might be tomorrow before we manage, though. Over."

Dale looked both as relieved and as startled as Shane and the others felt. Then the reality of the rest of what had been said dawned on them, about the same time as Lori asked, " Did he just say they were still in the department store?"

Sharing a look, Dale observed "Sounds like they're a lot closer than the department store, as clear as that broadcast was."

Not bothering to voice his agreement, Shane keyed the mic. "T-dog, did you say you were still stuck at the department store? Over."

The response was immediate. As if reading between the lines, their friend answered, "Yeah. I did."

Then, apparently deciding that his audience would need a bit more of an explanation, he continued, "We met up with a couple of new people who seem to have had the same idea as us. One already saved us some trouble and is providing new weapons and ammo. That one's a former cop, like you."

Shane decided he could get behind that idea, especially if this guy managed to get ahold of an entire gun locker. Shane had often kicked himself for not making a run on the one at the station in King County. To be fair, though, he'd been more focused on getting Carl and Lori to safety at the time. "You said there were a couple of new people."

There seemed to be a bit of an amused tone to T-dog's next reply. "Yeah. The other one's a kid, maybe seventeen. Been on his own from the beginning. Said he lost his family, decided we looked decent enough. Surprised the hell out of us to find him on the roof with a gun, rope, a taser, and a portable Ham radio. Had Merle stunned and tied up when we found him. Guess he didn't like Merle firing off rounds like an idiot any more than we did."

All Shane could manage right off the bat was to say, "Uh, copy that. Wait one."

Everyone at the quarry minus the kids, Daryl, and Ed just stood around looking at each other with their jaws on the ground. What they'd just heard was really proving hard to get their heads around.

Finally, Dale asked, "Did he just say a 'kid' got the better of Merle?"

Shane found himself laughing for the first time in ages. "That's what I heard. With a taser and rope, no less."

Lori joined in his laughter a moment later. "I would have loved to have witnessed that."

Carol added her thoughts to the mix, "Me, too."

Amy, Andrea's sister, surprised them all when, with a mischievous grin, she said, "I would have loved to help." Which, naturally, got a good bit of surprised laughter from everyone there.

After composing himself once again, Shane said, "Noted. And you said you're all safe? How secure is the building?"

T-dog's next reply sounded bemused, and like he was now inside. Which was proof that he really was talking on a portable Ham rather than a walkie. "Oh, yeah. It's secure. Not something I would have said a few minutes ago, but it looks like the kid's good at setting up rather ingenious barricades. Front door was the only weak point, and he's got a wall of wood, racks, and counters wedged together tightly enough that I don't think a whole heard of walkers could break it. Hell, I don't think I would even know how to get it apart again if I tried."

Shane's eyebrows shot up. This kid sounded resourceful as hell. The kind of person almost guaranteed to make it in a world like this. Also one that they definitely wanted on their side.

"Copy that. I'm signing off for now. Save your batteries and check in first thing in the morning. Sooner if something changes or if you get close tonight. This is Shane, signing off."

With that, he hung up the mic and sat back. The next day was going to be interesting.

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AfterAfter putting away the ham radio, T-Dog stepped up beside Harry and said, "you don't mess around do you?"

Glancing at him sideways, Harry replied, "don't see much point to it. Wasting time anymore could mean the difference between life and death. I mean, come on! Besides, this place is what, 15 story? The first 10 of them have goods on them. The upper five are administration, that might, but only might, have something useful. Might go take a look at it to see if there's any medical supplies but other than that. Not holding my breath.

"Down here though, I think on the uppermost floor there's an infirmary? Anyway, with the barricades in place we don't have to be in such a hurry. And with my magic, and the box truck parked out on the loading dock- which, by the way, I'm not exactly sure how you missed that one- the sheer amount of supplies will be able to take along on one run makes this amount of trouble worth it."

From the other side of Harry, Morales observed, "Kid makes a good point. And none of us are going to complain. Especially considering that we might actually get the chance to sleep in actual beds tonight." Seeing the questioning looks coming from all the others around him, he added, "There's a furniture section up on the third floor. Saw it on the building directory."

Harry nodded thoughtfully. "It's not a bad idea to grab a bunch of that stuff. Probably all of it. Although, it won't be useful for a while, at least until we find some place more permanent.

"Still, I think we should clear out the store. Everything that isn't bolted down. Never know when someone might need anything we find here."

Stunnedat the kid's audacity, the group shared an incredulous look, sure that Harry had gone round the twist. It was Rick who said what they all were thinking. "In order to take all this with us we'd need more than a few hours and a convoy of trucks I don't know about anyone else here, but I don't know how to drive a big rig."

Harry leveled them all with a sardonic grin. However, instead of answering, he simply pulled a pendant from around his neck and, tapping it once with a finger, set it on the floor and stepped back. A second later, where a sliver sized trunk had stood was a full-size steamer trunk with seven different crests on the front, prompting a round of startled gasps from everyone behind him.

Without looking backback, he stepped forward, pressed a finger to one of the crests. Almost instantly, the lid popped up and, to everyone's amazement, he climbed inside and disappeared.

For his part, Harry found the situation endlessly amusing, stifling a round of hearty belly laughs.
It was good to laugh like this again, he decided, but quickly sobered himself, setting to the business of gathering the extra trunks he had found. And, since they had all been shrunken and placed in a gunnysack, it was just a minute or two before he was climbing back into the world above.

passing out the trunks, he said, "So, one trunk per person. put anything you find inside. Don't worry about how much you put inside. They're magically expanded charmed to never get full. And take your time. There's no way the dead at the door will be able break through. I warded it to the nines."

watching everyone move off and start putting, items, h their trunks, Harry decided it would be entertaining to su their reactions when they were done.

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About 3 hours Later, everyone gathered in the main store just inside the doors, a few marveling at the fact that the herd outside could barely be hard from here.

Merle, true to form, had the most colorful response fall. "Damn, man. You wasn't kidding. We just cleared the whole fucking building and these rings still don't weigh more 'n a feather."

In reply, Harry just chuckled. "Yeah. That's a feather light charm. No matter how heavy it gets, you'll be able to carry it around like a case of pillows."

After a brief pause, Andrea said, "Well, now that that's done, I think the next thing would be to come up with an escape plan."

When no one spoke up with any ideas, Harry sighed. "Really, people? Nothing?" Still, no one responded. Leaning up against the Sales counter, the wizard continued, "I guess no one realized that there was another loading dock at the back on the basement level? One that has an empty box truck which is very handy."

looking Sheepish, Glen admitted, "Yeah, I saw it. but I counted it out since one, I doubt the Keys are nearby and I don't know how to hotwire anything. And there's several walkers between us and the van. More than most of this group might be comfortable in dealing with."

stifling a groan, Harry found that he had to admit that the man probably had a point. "Well, I would say that things have changed a bit, yeah?"

As one the group nodded and Harry felt immensely relieved. "Good. sounds like a plan." Then, as the others turned toward the basement access stair, the Wizard leaned in so that only Merle could hear him. "Just so you know, I've already guessed the type of person you are, so let me be clear. If you ever cross this group, try to steal from them or otherwise try to hurt them in ANY way, I WILL kill you. Clear?"

Merle simply nodded, and Harry followed the others. Time to blow the joint.

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It took them just a few minutes to clear the Walkers, and then they were on their way.

Sitting in the passenger seat, Harry caught a glimpse of the city skyline. Not only did the city belong to the dead now, it was likely there wouldn't much left before long. The Smoke made it clear, Atlanta was burning.

Chapter Text

In an abandoned quarry a few miles outside of Atlanta, a hastily thrown together camp could be found well back from the road. The people there could, at the present moment, be seen milling about as close to an old RV as possible in hopes of hearing it come to life, praying that their people, the ones who had gone to Atlanta the day before, were still alive and well and, particularly, not bitten.

One of the people in the camp who was possibly the most stressed about it but also the quietest was Daryl Dixon, brother to Merle, the man who had, apparently, been bested by a 17 year old kid.

One of the others, a man with a thick mop of black hair and wearing a ball cap that said King County Sheriff, strode cautiously up to him and said, "Hey there Daryl. You holding up ok?"

The tracker barely glanced his way, snorting derisively. "What you think, man? Huh?! My brother went out to watch those people's backs and gets knocked out and hog-tied by some upstart kid, and I'm supposed to just be all cool and collected? Fuck that! I'm gonna want some answers when they get back. And they better hope he's still alive!"

As Daryl stalked off, a hand descended on the deputy's shoulder, making him spin around guardedly, only to find himself face to face with the older and somewhat wisened face of the RV's owner. "Dammit, Dale! Don't sneak up on people! Damned near gave me a heart attack."

To his credit, the other man had the decency to look a bit sheepish. "Sorry. I just wanted to say that he'll come around." Then, with a small smile, he added, "Also, I want you to know that, whether anyone else thinks so, you've done a finfine job leading this group. Just don't bite off more than you can chew."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Frowning and rubbing the back of his neck, Dale answered, "I meant that, sometimes, even the strongest person needs a friend to lean on. If you ever need to talk, about anything, know that I'm available."

To say that Shane was taken aback was an understatement. He was about to give a reluctant thank you when a voice called out, "Dust trail on the road. Coming up fast!"

Shane was immediately sprinting to the RV where his binoculars were stored, looking out in the direction the man, Jim, was pointing. "I'll be damned. A box truck, by the looks of it." Lowering the binoculars, the former deputy called out, "Look alive folks. Sentries with guns to the front. Everyone else to the back."

Some of the group may have thought that this was a bit extreme, but they did it anyway. These days it was better to be safe than sorry.

A scant few minutes later, the van whined to a stop and the engine was cut. And then, for at least a few folks, all hell broke loose as the people in the van filtered out. For Shane, seeing his best friend, who he had thought dead in the hospital more than two months ago, walk forward, deputy's uniform and hat in place, felt like he'd been gut-punched.

From nearby, he suddenly heard a boy's voice shout, "Dad!" And then the boy, Carl, was running so fast toward Rick Grimes that the man was nearly bowled over.

Then, as Lori, Rick's wife, was gathered up in a bear hug, there came a British voice calling out, "Ruddy hell! Mum, dad, it's Harry."

Vernon and Petunia Dursley looked as shell shocked as Harry did. They had spent years living with the fact that They would never see their nephew again, so to see him here, now, felt more than little surreal. Yet, whereas the Grimes family had rushed in for an enthusiastic embrace, Harry and the Dursleys stayed at a distance, regarding each other awkwardly.

For some reason, and much to Harry's surprise and confusion, his Aunt Petunia was giving him a sorrowful look while Dudley just looked torn. There was no way that the Wizard could guess their reasons, though he thought that, perhaps would discover the reason sooner rather than later.

In the meantime, everyone else wes busy getting reaquainted. It was, Harry decided, going to be a very interesting evening.

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The group, minus Ed Pelettier, were sitting around small campfire eating a stew cooked from the squirrels that 22 year old Darryl Dixon had made, while different members of the group that had come back from Atlanta related everything that had happend there.

. In the middle of a brief pause, Andrea looked at, Rick and noted." You know, we never did hear much about your experiences before you found yourself in that tank. I mean, the way you acted it was like all this - the walkers, the end of the world-was brand new to you. So I gotta ask, where have you been this whole time? Under a rock?"

From the expression on the former Deputy's face, it was clear that he hadn't expected a question like that. At least not so soon. with a ragged breath, he began, "I'd been shot stopping a high speed chase before all this. I was in a coma and, when I woke up, I was in the hospital, alone, no one around. No power, no sounds, nothing.

." When I stepped into that hallway, it was completely surreal. Not The least being that someone had thought to put a gurney in front of the door. From the way things looked, when I started making my way outside, whoever did it saved my life. I mean, there were bodies everywhere. Shot, executed. Like people had panicked and just opened fire. It was like a nightmare."

At that point, he was interrupted by Shane, who had a haunted look on his face. "You're not wrong there, brother. I had come to check on you that day, when it all went down. I had brought the jeep. Took the rear seats out so I could get you, in a little easier. And you were just laying there. I kept trying to get you to wake up, but you wouldn't.

"Then a blast from outside rocked the whole building, and the power went out. That's when I lost it."

The look in Shane's eyes when he glanced at Lori and Rick was that of a man desperate for them to hear him and understand. "I went over to check on you, see if there was a heartbeat, if maybe you well still breathing, but I couldn't find anything. I really thought you were dead, right there in front of me. Only I couldn't accept that. I was still gonna try and get you outta there, but then came sounds of screams and gunfire in the hall, and I ducked behind your bed just in time to avoid being seen by whatever soldier stuck their head in.

"That's when I Knew.... I knew I had to leave you there and get out. Get Lori and Carl out before what was happening at that hospital spread to the streets. So I left. Put that bed in front of the door so the walkers couldn't get at you. I had thought that watching you take that bullet was hard.... It didn't come dose. Leaving you there was the hardest thing I've ever done. And seeing you here, having you back again. It's a damned miracle."

Rick just nodded. "I get it. I really do And you did the right thing, picking Lori and Carl over me. I'll never be able to pay it back."

As Rick resumed his own tale, it became clearer that it really did look like a mirade.

then, much to his consternation, Morales looked at the group and said, "I think the real miracle was finding Harry. Not sure exactly how he got on that roof except for the makeshift bridge coming from the next building over, but he was the one that made the final plan that got us all out. Saved Merle from himself too, while he was at it."

Harry had no clue how to respond. Also, to say that the attention he was getting at that moment was more than he was generally comfortable with was possibly the biggest understatement ever, but it appeared that there would be no way around it.

Before he could say anything, though, his uncle Vernon piped up, "I think I'd very much like to know myself. I truly thought we'd never see you again."

A stunned Dale asked, "You know this boy?"

For a moment, Harry was sure his Uncle was about to out his secret out of pure spite and was, thus, preparing to have to escape.... Again. Instead, his Uncle, after a moments thought, answered, "We should. He's Petunia's sister's boy. We tried raising him for a time but got separated at one point before all this... The Scotland Yard never could make heads or tails of it, and here we are."

Andrea, bless her, sniffed, trying to hold back tears. "So that's two miracles in one day. It's the kind of thing we might have needed most at a time like this. A reason for hope."

Shane, ever the skeptic, frowned in thought. " You know, I spent some time in London with the Yard after 9/11 to see what the Brits had in place for terrorist attacks, and I got the impression that not much really gets by them. So I guess I gotta ask, what the hell happened?"

Thinking quickly, Harry decided to jump in before his aunt or uncle could. "Well, I was orphaned, see, when I was a baby. My dad was in law enforcement, working with the Yard and MI5 in counter-terrorism. He managed to piss off the wrong person and one of the most dangerous individuals in England targeted our family personally.

"He attacked us at our house one night when I was about a year old and managed to kill my mum and dad, but, for some reason, he couldn't kill me and disappeared for years after. And as I had no other living family, I was sent to Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia."

Pausing for a breath and to make sure everyone was following along, he continued. "There were people who had known my parents who knew where I was but didn't look in on me until I was eleven and about to enter secondary school.

"Up to that point neither I nor my aunt or uncle had any full idea of what had happened or how important my dad's family had been. I had been set to attend stonewall high in Surrey when one of my dad's friends and colleagues came with a letter inviting me to attend a prestigious boarding school in Scotland. Talk about the shock of a lifetime."

Harry paused, shaking his head at the memory. "Aunt Petunia and unde Vernon did their best to raise me, never telling me what really happened to my parents. Not that I can blame them. I mean, who wants to tell a child that a terrorist leader had killed their parents pusonally, then tried and failed to kill that child too or that the kid was still a target for that terrorist and their followers?"

In the following silence, Rick and Shane, having been in Law Enforcement, cringed at Harry's tale. The thought of such a situation was a cop's worst nightmare.

"I did end up facing the guy in the end of my first year at school. Unbeknownst to any of the faculty, he had managed to recruit one of the teachers that had started that year to join him and let him into the School's lower levels. I managed to kill the professor and escape, but only just.

"Then another person Smuggled him into the School the next year where he hid in the unused basement the whole year, masterminding various attades on students and taff until he managed to Lure me to him. I managed to get away, but again I only just.

"In forth year, he kidapped me and another student in another altempt. I managed to get away, but he had already killed the other boy.

"Finally, in my seventh year, he managed gather a huge group of his followers to attack the school. In that final showdown, I managed to suprise him. Killed him with his own knife.

"In all honesty, I'm still not sure about all the reasons the whole thing happend to begin with. I was just grateful it was over. Afterward, I discovered something that my Aunt never knew. I found out that my dad came from old mobility in England. To the crown, I am Lord Harry James Potter, Duke of Granston, Marquis of Lanford, viscount Timmons. Turns out that my dad was a target not only because of his efforts against the terrorists, but because of his hands, wealth, and Titles. And once I found out all that, I asked Her Majesty to hide me, to make me disapear, so I could have the semblance of a normal life. which I did. until all of this happened. It's why Im in the US. Here I'm Harry Black. Anyway..."

here he stopped, gazing around at everyone warily, since he'd just noticed that they all looked at him with their jaws on the ground.

Dixon Brothers just looked at him thoughtfully, Rick and Share looked at him with understanding horror all over their faces, the Dursleys looked at him with inexplicable sorrow, and everyone else just looked shocked.

after a few moments, Harry excused himself to go to bed. Better to finish the conversation later, when they'd had a chance to process his story.

Once he had left, Rick, who had finally gained his senses, looked at Vernon and Petunia with a deep frown on his face. "I'm guessing the two of you never knew about the things he just told us?"

Petunia, for her part, never looked up, only shaking her head in answer. Dudley, who had no idea what to say simply kept silent. Vernon, however, looked him dead in the eyes, saying, "Petunia and I never really knew all the particulars. The people who brought him to us the night his parents were killed never knocked. They just left him on our doorstep with a note. To our shame, we never really bothered to find out. We were even resentful of the whole situation. Never really treated him the way he deserved, and by the time we realized our mistake it was already too late. He Vanished without a trace. Never thought we'd get the chance to make it up to him."

hearing one of the kids yawn, Lori sand, "I think we should set a watch and turn in. contine this conversation when everyone is present and Hany has had a chance to talk alone with his family."

seeing the sense in her words, everyone got up and headed for their tents. Based on everything that had happened or been talked about in the last few hours, the next couple of days were going to be interesting.

----------------------

The next couple of days were, as expected, rather eventful. to say the least.

Rick and Shane had disapeared for a couple of hours coming back looking for more at ease than they had the night before.

Harry had had a long and involved conversation with the Dixons about what had happened on the roof in Atlanta. It had left all concerned with a lot more respect for the others than they'd had before.

and then there were the Dursleys. Somehow their outlook toward Harry had changed drastically from what it had been all those years ago. They had all apologized for the day they had treated him and asked for a chance to make it up to him, which he'd readily agreed to. Dudley had even surprised the wizard by joking about how unfair it was to be stuck at 39 when Harry was now able to start over at 17. They had all shared a laugh about that.

the second day after the Atlanta group had gotten back, the group were treated to grilled Salmon from the Quarry, thanks to the remarkable skills of Amy and Andrea. Harry had been the one to cook, suprising everyone in camp except the Dursleys with how good it was. In the end, Carol insisted that Harry show her how he had done it while Carl, Rick's little boy, had asked Amy and Andrea to teach him to fish.

It was the third day that proved the most memorable, for everyone there.

Harry was awake and moving around long before everyone else, a habit he hadn't been able to shake after all the years he'd lived with the Dursleys. This, he was able to greet everyone as they left their tents, each of them gratefully surprised for the breakfast that the young wizard had made for them.

It was in the midst of this peaceful hubub that a decidedly feminine scream pierced the air from the Dursleys tent, followed by a series of gasps and a loud exclamation, unmistakably from his Uncle Vernon, "What the BLOODY HELL is going on? What the hell happened, Duds?"

Suddenly, Harry found himself dreading whatever he was about to see. So, with a heavy sigh, he turned, blinked a couple of times to make sure he wasn't seeing things, and found his jaw on the ground. What he was face to face with wasn't anything he could have ever expected, which, considering all the many misadventures he'd had over the years, was saying a lot.

There in front of him was his cousin, looking just like he had the day he'd parted company with him at Private Drive All those years ago. Only it didn't stop there. Both his Aunt and Uncle also appeared to be about twenty years younger, themselves. Which had Harry dropping his head into his Hands with a decidedly aggravated groan.

Finally, stepping forward, he whispered in his Aunt's ear, which had her fumbling in her purse for a compact. When she'd seen her reflection in the tiny mirror, she paled, but managed not to faint.

After a few minutes, Shane said, "Um, not to be a dick, but maybe one of you could explain this."

Those were, of course, words that Harry had been dreading. Not the least because he was afraid of what MACISA, the magical Congress of America, would say or do in this instance. Assuming, that is, that any of the said magical governments were still around. To his immense surprise, it was Vernon who gave him an encouraging nod.

So, over the next hour or two, Harry explained to the group that hadn't been with him at the department store about magic, and filled in the parts of his history from that first night around the campfire to reflect the presence of magic in his life.

by the end of the telling, almost everyone was looking at him in varying stages and expressions of shock. This was, of course, completely understandable since the magical community had done such a fantastic job of keeping hidden since the end of the witch trials.

Oddly enough, it was a silently Sniffling Petunia that said, rather mournfully, "Oh, dear!! Harry, if I had known ...well, I'd like to think I would have treated you better, but I suspect that might not be the truth." frowning in thought, she added, "Though now that I think Back, it strikes me as rather strange, how we treated you. I mean, I was generally jealous of Lily and her magic. I even wrote a letter once begging to be allowed to come. But I was told, rather harshly, that I had no magic and could, therefore, in no way attend."

She was right, Harry mused. It was rather odd. And then a thought occured to him that had hem fighting back some rather intense anger. "I don't suppose anyone ever dropped in to check the wards early on?"

His mind was, at first, set a bit at ease when his aunt shook her head. That feeling, however, quickly disapeared when Uncle Vernon nodded, revealing," Perhapps a week or so after your arrival, an older man with a beard, Dumblerore I believe, came by and did some tomfoolery which took all of ten minutes and then he left. Now that I think back, it was about that time that our feelings of resentment toward you first started."

In an instant, Harry's control of his magic broke, sending out a shockwave that toppled tents and broke car windows. It lasted several seconds until Dudley pinched his shoulder hard to snap him out of it.

Peering around owlishly, he saw the damage and the looks on everyone's faces and blanched, stuttering apologies. He couldn't remember the last time he'd had an outburst like that.

After a couple of minutes, he found he needed some space, unable to say anything constructive at that moment. So, with another round of apologies, he stood, took out his wand, repaired All the damage in the camp, and stalked off to the woods. He really didn't know how to handle this.

-----------------------

After Harry had disappeared from sight, Shane growled, "someone gonna explain that?"

Massaging his forehead, Vernon let out a weary sigh and muttered, "he's had a very bad shock, my friends. A very large betrayal by someone Harry thought of as a friend and mentor."

Lorrie leaned in, asking, "You mean this Dumbledore guy? Right?" In answer, Vernon merely nodded.

With a concerned frown, Shane asked, "How bad a betrayal we talking here?"

Petunia, who found she couldn't sit anymore, stood and started pacing around the sitting area, gesturing widely as she replied, "Catastrophic. The man in question was the headmaster of his school and the one who brought him to us. He also knew how I felt about magic at the time, as he was the headmaster when my sister was in school."

Nodding in understanding, Rick leaned forward and, pinching the bridge of his nose, said, "okay. Back up a minute." Here he paused to consider what he wanted to say, "I want clarification on something. You were talking about wards when he went off, something about the man messing with them. Just what are wards, exactly?"

At this question, the three Dursleys had no idea who should answer or even how to answer. So they looked back and forth between one another for several minutes until Dudley finally replied, "I remember asking about that back when we were both really fifteen and he said they were like magic shields, barriers that no one wanting to hurt us could cross. But magic is tricky..."

Petunia, taking her cue from her son, added, "I remember my sister, Lily, telling me that wards were like most other types of enchantment in that they can be layered, usually from the outside in. My sister sacrificed herself for Harry, leaving a blood -based ward of protection that anchored itself to our house."

At this, everyone grew silent as they all tried to puzzle through what they had just learned. Finally, though Dale, as ever the apparent scholar and philosopher, showed just how understanding he could be. "Harry was asking if this fellow added something to it to influence your attitudes toward him, wasn't he?"

It was more of a statement than a question, but Vernon took it upon himself to answer anyway. "most likely. Not sure what it would be or why he would do it. But I'm thinking it was powerful and negative. After all, the things we did to him should have landed us in prison. Looking back, I feel like throwing up, and I can't figure out how I would be able to do such things when I would rather die than abuse anyone."

Here, Rick showed why, in the world that had existed before, police usually brought him in to talk people down, saying "well, if his outburst is anything to go by, I'd imagine that this Dumbledore would have been able to make the effects strong enough that you probably wouldn't have been able to stop yourselves."

Andrea, glancing back in the direction that Harry had gone, observed, "Either way, I think it's a topic we should leave alone until he gets ready to talk about it."

Seeing the wisdom in this, everyone broke apart and headed off to take care of their respective chores for the day.