Harry Potter and the Boy Who Lived

Chapter 1: An Alternate Beginning

Manifestation of Destiny

(Oct. 31 st , 1981)...

"Avada Kedavra." With a burst of green light, a serpentine-looking man casually killed the Muggle standing in his way. The Dark Lord's blood red eyes showed neither enjoyment nor anger at the monstrous deed. Killing Muggles was simply a service that he performed for the wizarding world.

The sound of frantic footsteps caught the Dark Lord's attention. He turned and saw a Muggle woman, tears running down her face, staring at her dead husband from the foot of the stairs. "David! David, please, get up!" she cried.

The Dark Lord couldn't help but let a soft laugh escape his lips. "I'm afraid that you are now a widow, Mrs. Evans."

"You monst–"

"Imperio," the spell immediately stopped the frantic woman's screams. "You will take me to Nathan Potter."

The woman obediently turned on her heels and led the cruelest man on the planet upstairs where her two grandchildren were sleeping. She pushed open the door at the end of the hall and walked forward into the room where a single crib housed the two young boys.

Voldemort followed the Muggle with a satisfied smile on his face. Ever since he had been told of the prophecy that foretold his fall, he had done little else but plot for the destruction of the child. It had not taken long for his network of spies to find all the children born near the end of July. A clerk at St. Mungo's under the Imperius curse had easily obtained and copied the records for every child born near the end of the month of July. From those records, the Dark Lord learned of two children born on the 31st of July.

Harry Potter, born July 31st at 22:42, and Nathan Potter, born July 31st at 22:50. Nathan Potter was the last child born in magical Britain in July.

Born as the seventh month dies, the Dark Lord remembered thinking as he read the records. Nathan Potter would be the one who could bring about his doom. That would not happen. He would simply kill the boy before he ever became a threat.

Unfortunately, the ancient magic with which Albus Dumbledore had protected the Potters was, as much as Voldemort hated to admit it, practically impenetrable.

Voldemort's followers had attempted to kidnap the blood-traitor Sirius Black and torture the location from him, but the mission had failed, and now Black was hidden away someplace under a Fidelius charm as well. His spy had reported that Dumbledore himself was Black's Secret-Keeper, making getting to Black impossible.

In his frustration, Voldemort had ordered his spy to kidnap the Potter children; however, that rash plan had failed spectacularly as well. The additional wards around the Potters's property wouldn't allow the children to be forcibly taken outside by anyone without a blood tie. The plan had nearly cost him his only spy in the Order of the Phoenix, and it was only Peter's quick talking that convinced the Potters of his innocence in the matter.

The Dark Lord was not a fool. He recognized that thus far his plans had been rushed and ill-conceived. No, Voldemort had always learned from his mistakes, and so, he waited. He would wait and plot the child's demise until an opportunity could present itself. In the meantime, he vented his frustrations by launching attacks against wizarding Britain. He was relentless. Giants, trolls, vampires, werewolves, and Death Eaters were all sent out on nightly missions.

While the war escalated, his spy, who was acting as a mail carrier between Lily Potter and her Muggle parents, was hinting to the Potters how much the mudblood bitch's mother and father wanted to see their grandchildren. Eventually the Potters agreed with Peter, who suggested that the order meeting on Halloween, being only an hour or two, would be safe enough to leave the children with their grandparents, especially since Peter would remain on location to guard them.