5 Hedwig!

{Diagon Alley, London}

{10:35 A.M, 1 August 1991}

"Welcome Alex, To the Diagon Alley..." James spoke as he proudly unveiled the alley to Alex, he felt a little silly doing these theratics but a small burst of joy did emerge from his heart when he saw Alex's expression had finally shifted from a stoic face. 

His eyes danced around taking it all in and James noticed that Alex's eyes lingered a little on the Eeylops Owl Emporium. He tried to see what Alex was seeing but he couldn't be sure, a dozen Owls were sitting in their perches.

"You want to look around?" James asked, he felt like he had found a lifeline, Alex hesitated but then nodded, and with purposeful steps, he walked over to the Eeylops Owl Emporium.

'I should treat the Potters as my guardians, anything other than that just doesn't sit right...' Alex thought the moral dilemma of taking over their real son's body wasn't what was holding him back. To be honest, he didn't care what happened to the real Alex, did he die or did he take his place in his last life?

'If it's the first case then unlucky mate, and if it's the second case then at least he would have enough money to live a decent life... if he could figure out a way to get to the bank...' Alex thought as he walked through the doors to the Eeylops Owl Emporium. 

His eyes were locked onto the snowy white owl, he ignored the gasps of his brother's name that went around as a lot of people recognized his brother's face, but right now his eyes were set on Hedwig.

He used his left hand to unclip the cage and extended his hands to greet her. Hedwig lightly nipped at his fingers. Alex didn't believe in God or fate but at least at this moment, he believed it a little bit as the snowy white owl nudged his hand lightly. 

Hedwig hopped out of her cage, and before the owner could make a fuss James waved his hand, showing off the Potter Lord ring was enough to stop his actions.

"Hello girl," Alex spoke as he caressed Hedwig's feathers. He had always been a fan of animals, he was biased towards the cute kind like everyone else, and the scene where Hedwig jumped in front of an Avada Kedavra for Harry had struck him hard. 

It was a simple scene but it was a bond that he admired very much. Even if Hedwig didn't choose him today, he had every intention of letting her free. She didn't belong in a cage.

"Go on then," Alex spoke as he extended his hand. Hedwig blinked a couple of times in his direction before she flew out of the shop.

"She was a feisty one, I'm not sure she will return young man," The owner spoke, he was looking into Alex's green eyes and he was pretty sure that the Boy who lived had hazel-colored eyes like Lord Potter. He knew there was a story here but he didn't dare ask, and angering one of the Most Ancient and Noble House over gossip wasn't a very good idea.

[Loren Gorden Lv 28]

Alex turned toward the shopkeeper and regarded him for a moment. He was surprisingly low-leveled for an adult. Alex looked at the numerous owls caged up but he ignored them and turned away. He wasn't a messiah, spending money just to free these birds was stupid. The gesture he showed to Hedwig was special and reserved for her.

'Now what?' Alex thought, and he turned toward James. Upon seeing his oldest son looking at him with a questioning look he turned to the shop owner to settle the bill. 

James walked out of the shop a dozen galleons lighter but at least he made a breakthrough with Alex, it might not seem that impressive but one of his worries was that Alex might be consumed by resentment toward him and Lily was settled for now.

He still couldn't read the kid though, he didn't behave like one. He was surprisingly mature and most of the time the only indication he was surprised was indicated by the widening of his eyes.

The two of them walked over to the Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. It was one of the old-school shops that had been a part of Diagon Alley since its establishment. The rest of the gang was already waiting for the two of them, Lily's eyebrows were already lifted, and the questioning look on her face was clear as day.

"So what do you like pup?" Sirius asked, he had been quiet for a while now and it was starting to get it.

"I dunno what do you like?" Alex asked, Sirius had been one of his favorite characters in the novel, he hadn't realized that he was still treating everyone as a character from a novel. He knew that he was now a part of this world, it just hadn't sunk in properly yet.

"The chocolate Vanilla combo is really good!" Sirius exclaimed, his excitement leaked into his voice as he almost barked his suggestion.

[Sienna Arlene lv - 15]

"Sure I guess," Alex shrugged as he waited for James to order, the waitress looked like she should be a Hogwarts student. He was aware of the numerous eyes that were eyeing his forehead mark.

"Muffliato~" As the waitress left James waved his wand and he cast the muffling charm. As described in the original book a muffling sound entered his ears as all the conversations outside the table dimmed a little.

"So I'm guessing you have questions," James asked, he was sitting right in front of Alex with Lily and Sirius on either side of him.

"Yeah, what happened to my magic core, and would it prevent me from casting these spells?" Alex asked, the question was for Dumbledore. His status hadn't given him any relevant information so he had to rely on Dumbledore for a little bit.

Albus looked into Alex's green eyes, the intelligence in his eyes frightened Albus a little as he answered, "Due to an accident... well it was an attack by a dark wizard on your brother. His spell rebounded causing the dark lord to be vanquished but due to the nature of that expulsion, you were hit by a magical shockwave."

James was a little nervous when Albus spoke about the incident. For once he didn't want to remember that dreadful night. And he also didn't want Alex to hate his brother.

"So the shockwave did what fractured my magical core?" Alex asked he was frowning. He could see the situation happening. 

"Yes in a sense, a wizard's Magical core controls the mana that flows through him and also manages and repels the foreign mana that might invade your body. When your Magical core was damaged, your body lost the ability to resist Mana, so all healing spells were like curses to your mana network..." Dumbledore spoke and he sighed, he still didn't know how Alex was healed but for now, he was content with that being a mystery.

"...Even the spell I used to check your core status right now used to be able to cause havoc across your body. You weren't able to handle any spells even remotely coming close to you or the ambient magic around the spell would be harmful to you." Dumbledore finished.

All the mana core talk was kind of new to Alex. He didn't remember hearing or reading anything about this, but then again the Harry Potter world he was familiar with was a little lacking in lore.

'I'm guessing my gamer's powers healed me, the constant sense of calm that I'm experiencing must be gamer's mind so I must have access to the Gamer's body as well?' Alex thought.

"How did I end up with Aunt Petunia?" Alex asked.

This time Lily was the one who answered, "I asked your Aunt for advice..." Lily started, she had a bitter look on her face.

"I remember growing up a little different than everyone around me, but I found my world when I came to Hogwarts. While your Aunt isn't proud of it, she grew Jealous of all the attention I got for being the only witch in the family..." Lily spoke, her gaze stuck in a time long gone.

"I asked her for advice to make sure that you don't feel excluded growing up, but then your Aunt made me realize that if you possibly would never be able to use magic, maybe not knowing about it wouldn't be such a bad idea..." Lily finished, her head hung low, and she was able to contain her tears.

"Your mother's not the one at fault..." James quickly defended Lily, "...I agreed as well. Simply using a very basic spell was like poison to you, and when Harry grew up and started accidental magic the dangers would increase. Your Aunt Petunia assured us that she would raise you as her own if we promised to never interfere with your life until you were of age."

...

'Huh, shit really did hit the fan in this timeline...' Alex thought as he stared at James and Lily.

...

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AN- The timeline will become clear in a little bit!