The first sign Harry noticed that all was not right in the park was the low growling coming from just inside the tree line of the small forest that bordered the park. Years of dealing with the various dogs of his uncle's sister made Harry understandably wary of strange dogs. Harry loved dogs but he'd learnt to keep a safe distance until he'd learned if they were friendly or not.
Harry dismounted the swing and started to slowly back away from the growling sounds. Now he could see sickly yellow eyes of the dog reflecting in the full moon's light. Harry knew that if he turned and ran the dog would chase him down. Instead he continued backing away as quickly as he safely could. Harry may have received poor grades but he paid attention in science class. A dog with eyes like that could likely have rabies or some other disease. Rabies wasn't supposed to exist in Britain but it was better to be safe than sorry.
Harry had managed to place several metres between himself and the treeline when the creature suddenly tore out of the brush. Harry only had a brief impression of slathering jaws and growling as he quickly turned and sprinted for all he was worth. The only though in his mind was to get away.
Harry leapt over the see-saw when the beast caught him by the ankle. Pain shot through the boy as the teeth crushed his ankle like a paper cup. The beast wrenched its head around flinging Harry back the way he came.
Through the pain and panic, one thought screamed in Harry's brain. 'I need to get away, NOW!'
Harry hit the ground in long soft grass but he sensed a wall of some type behind him. He instinctively curled up into a ball to protect himself but no attack came. After what seemed an instant and an eternity simultaneously, Harry forced himself to look up.
He was someplace else. It wasn't the park. It was his school yard. How did he get here? Where did the beast go?
That is when the pain hit.
It felt like liquid fire was rushing through his veins bringing pain to his whole body. Harry wanted to scream but was in so much pain he couldn't inhale to do that.
Then it got worse.
The liquid fire had almost completely enveloped his body when it reached the odd lightning-bolt shaped scar on his forehead. The fire's spread seemed to pause for a moment and the pain lessened. Then the scar erupted; spraying blood over the boy. A cold blackness started to push back at the liquid fire. The blackness burned with its coldness as badly as the liquid fire. Where they clashed was hell on Earth.
The agony forced Harry's immature magical core to react. It had automatically contained the intruder trapped inside the scar for years. Now a new intruder was attacking. A three-way battle ensued between the magical core and the two magical infections. The three forces struggled in a swirl of battle though out the boy's body.
In the end the small fragment of the Dark Lord's soul lodged in the scar was too weak to survive. The cold blackness was destroyed by the native core and the liquid fire. Yet the cold blackness did not go quietly.
The liquid fire also took significant damage in the battle. It was severely weakened and altered. Weakened liquid fire and the remnants of the cold blackness were absorbed by the immature native core. The liquid fire connected and blended with elements of the magical core
The result was something the world had never seen before.
....
29 October 1993
It was the night before the full moon and Remus Lupin could feel it in his bones. His inner wolf was excited to be released. After more than thirty years of lycanthropy the pain was familiar if still highly unwanted. At least Severus's potion was taking the edge off the pain and would allow him control over the beast the next night.
Professor Lupin was patrolling the Hogwart's halls and grounds as part of his responsibilities to the school. Prefects patrolled until an hour after curfew. Then one professor each night patrolled until 2.00 in the morning. The ghosts of Hogwarts also kept watch during and after the professors' patrols.
As he patrolled the area outside Hogwarts near the greenhouses, the man considered his friend's son, Harry Potter. Harry was not what the older wizard expected.
Harry was a bit shorter than his father had been in Third year, but quite a bit more muscular. He also lacked the Potters' trade-mark poor eyesight although he did have James's hair and face. His eyes were pure Lily.
The younger Potter also seemed to lack James's notorious charisma. Instead Harry maintained a small group of very close friends; isolated from the rest of the school. Many of the students seemed oddly split. They barely tolerated Harry while respecting the Boy-Who-Lived. It seemed rather strange.
Harry also seemed to have an excellent grasp of practical magic. His written assignments tended to be sparse and the absolute minimum length, but he excelled with a wand in his hand. Minerva and Filius agreed with his assessment. Severus of course had nothing positive to say about any Potter while his Runes and Magical Creatures professors hadn't had him long enough to make an assessment. (Although Hagrid assured Remus Harry would be brilliant in his class based on how Harry handled Hagrid's many 'pets'.)
Remus's musings were disrupted when a familiar large black dog ran past. Padfoot. Remus drew his wand to call send a Patronus message to Professor Dumbledore when he received the shock of his life.
The large werewolf sprinted around the corner on all fours at a much higher rate of speed then Padfoot managed.
"Bloody hell!" Remus gasped in shock as he brought his wand to bear. The full moon wasn't until tomorrow night! How could a werewolf be out tonight?
The werewolf seemed to hear the soft exclamation. It abruptly came to a stop and turned to face the Defence professor. It rose to stand on its rear legs and seemed to tower over the currently human professor.
With his experienced eye, Remus could see now that it was still an adolescent werewolf not yet into his full growth. Fully grown the werewolf would be even bigger than Fenrir Greyback! Next, Remus noticed the creature's eyes. No sign of the yellow tinted eyes that indicated the lycanthropic madness he'd expected. Instead the green eyes seemed amused.
Remus slowly lowered his wand. Dumbledore never mentioned that he'd accepted another student infected as a werewolf. Why wouldn't he mention it? And after what had happened during their Sixth year, how was Severus accepting it?
The massive werewolf made an odd hurmph that seemed to contain humour and resignation.
It was not until the sound of a barking dog that Remus remembered the first figure. Before he could act, the werewolf made the same hurmph sound before sprinting off in the direction the dog had gone. Before he knew it, the Defence professor was alone in the darkness again without ever casting a single spell.