The weight of the name felt odd, like wearing someone else's clothes. I wasn't Chris Aurelius anymore. I wasn't the last remaining heir of the Aurelius bloodline. The memories were there, but I had become Harry Potter the boy who lived. I had been reborn into an eerily familiar but foreign world.
I began to realize that these rebirths weren't a stroke a luck. They were opportunities to live my life again. An opportunity I would not squander.
This time though I didn't have my mother or grandfather to protect me, to teach and guide me. The two people who loved me the most in this life were gone. James and Lily Potter had given their lives to protect their son. Even though I knew I wasn't their Harry I still respected them for the lengths they went to protect their son. I made a vow to avenge them, even though I knew their ideologies would have never matched mine.
I knew I didn't have much time until Hagrid arrived if this timeline was going to follow the original. So I began to search and see if I could use any magic. That's when I felt two different magics. The first was warm and loving like a mothers embrace. I knew this must be the ancient from of magic left from Lily's spell. The other however was my ancient magic. It was still there, but it was dormant. I rationalized that this was because I was only a baby. This made me believe that grandpa Percival was right. The magic we have is tied to our soul. We still have magic cores but special magic or bloodline magic comes from something deeper. But my ancient magic was still there, it was sleeping like a dormant beast but it was still apart of me. I also wondered if there was bloodline magic tied to being a Potter.
As I waited I heard the faint sounds of a motorcycle arriving, followed by heavy foot steps. I knew this was Hagrid coming after Dumbledore had sent him. I could hear him crying after he found Lily and James. He made his way to me in my crib and scooped me up trying to comfort me even though I was already calm.
"There there little one, everything is going to be okay. You look just like your father you do, but ye have your mother's eyes." Hagrid said in deep gruff voice full of sadness.
Afterwards Hagrid brought me to Professor Dumbledore and McGonagall. I could hear Professor McGonagall express her reservations about leaving me with the Dursleys. She found them to be an "obnoxious" and "perfectly horrible" family, and she was concerned that I would not be happy living with them.
However, Dumbledore explained that the Dursleys were the only family I had left, and that there was a powerful magic protecting me while I lived under their roof. This "ancient magic" was crucial for my survival, as it would shield me from Voldemort's influence.
Despite her misgivings, McGonagall ultimately respected Dumbledore's decision and helped him deliver me to the Dursleys.
I knew that Professor McGonagall was correct, and that leaving me with the Dursleys was all part of Dumbledore's plan to manipulate me into being weak and timid by the time I got to Hogwarts. However I was not going to just lay down and play along. My Grandfather Percival had taught me to be patient, bide your time and play the long game.
From all I knew about the Potter-verse Dumbledore was a master manipulator. Had contingencies upon contingencies. So I had to be smart, I was only a baby now so there wasn't much I could do but plan anyways.
Five year time skip.
I awoke to dust falling on his head and loud bangs coming from the stairs above. "Get out bed Potter!" My cousin Dudley shouted as he jumped down the stairs. My life hadn't deviated much from the original as far as how the Dursleys treated him. However I didn't take it laying down. I would get revenge by messing with them. One time my Uncle Vernon had a very important meeting, that could lead to a big promotion. The previous evening I put the idea of going out to eat to celebrate ahead of time in their heads, making them think it was Vernon's idea. My aunt and uncle obviously were not going to bring me along, but this was part of my plan. While they were out I added hair removal cream to Vernon's shampoo, and added some laxatives to their favorite snacks they ate before bed time.
The next day Vernon shit his pants during the meeting, and had to abruptly leave work. This led to another co worker of his to lead the meeting ultimately getting the big promotion. Petunia and Dudley also became ill so they blamed it on the restaurant. Vernon also started to notice his hair was falling out after this. These were just some of the things that occurred during my time living with my aunt and uncle.
I mostly spent my time planning how to become powerful enough to survive on my own or find someone to mentor and support me. Sirius Black was at the top of the list. But he was in Azkaban, and I needed someone much more powerful. I knew it couldn't be Dumbledore. Professor McGonagall wouldn't fit either, she was to in line with Dumbledore's way of thinking. I even thought of Snape, but quickly dismissed that idea as well. I needed someone powerful, cunning, willing to do whatever it took to achieve their goals, but who? To much had changed since the 1890's in his previous life, and he had died in 2025 in his first life. Even with all my knowledge from my first life my options were limited. There was one person but I didn't even know how to begin to pull it off.
I had also started mastering occlumency. Knowing I would need to shield my mind from prying eyes ahem Dumbledore cough cough. I had built decent mind shields, as well as beginning of a mind palace that was similar to the Room of Requirements. I would keep working on it to eventually have it be the whole of Hogwarts. This was going to take time though. For all my grandfather taught me in my last life, this wasn't something we went over much.
It had been a couple more weeks, and it was my fifth birthday. I laid in my cupboard under the stairs quietly singing happy birthday to myself. Even though I was now on my third life, it still hurt to not have anyone wish you a happy birthday. But that is when I felt it, my ancient magic stirred. I closed my eyes and reach inwards feeling the magic. It began to move forming my magic core. Normally this wouldn't happen until a wizard was ten or eleven but here it was. What surprised me though was the size of my core. It was massive. It was already bigger then the size it was in my previous life before I died.
I had read before that most wizards go through two magical awakenings in their life, and some more powerful ones go through three. Powerful Wizards like Dumbledore, Voldemort, and even Grindelwald had obviously gone through the third. It gave them vast reserves of magic so they could effortlessly cast high level magic.
I knew that once my magic core had stabilized I could begin to begin to carry out some of my plans. The first of which was to scan my body to see if I could find the piece of Voldemort's soul left behind. I closed my eyes and pushed my magic towards my scar. There it was black and twisted. It was like a parasite trying to hide itself from my magic. I wasn't sure if I should probe it anymore so I left it alone. I knew from the books that it wouldn't effect me until much later. Once that was over I began to try and cast some basic spells wandlessly. This ended in failure for the most part. But that's okay. Patience is one of my strongest virtues and I know I'll figure it out in due time. I was thinking about whats next, and more magic to try, I had a passing thought of wishing Deek was here to assist me like before. He had always been so helpful. Then it hit me maybe Deek was still alive, maybe he was still bonded to my soul. So I used my magic and called out. "Deek." Then I felt him, such overwhelming joy followed by the sound of a quiet snap.
"Master Christopher called to Deek? How is that possible?"