The Prince

Prologue

A New World

Harry James Potter was a much envied wizard. Witches (and a few wizards as well) all over the world eyed him longingly. The remaining ones were jealous. Jealous of his fame, his good looks, his riches, his powers - everything. He was what every wizard desired to be. He was what every witch wanted her man to be. Once known as the-boy-who-lived, he went on to become the-boy-who-defeated-Voldemort in his final year at Hogwarts. After a year of chaos, he had become the International Chancellor of Magic, having destroyed six more Dark Lords in that year. Two years forth, he was merely known as the Prince. The entire wizard world was his kingdom. People were happy under his rule, though he was a ruler with an iron fist. He was respected and feared. It was said that he was even more powerful than Albus Dumbledore, who had expired a year ago. No wonder he was envied. He had everything.

His palace was the most beautiful building ever seen. He had inherited it from his parents, who had never used it. He had made quite a few changes in it, though. It had been little more than a huge old damp castle when he had first entered it, but he had made it magnificent. All the lucky people who had ever been invited as guests didn't have enough words to praise it.

Perhaps the strangest thing about the Prince was that he never had a woman by his side, though not due to a dearth of lovely witches. Some had begun to harbour the thought that he might be gay, but then, he never had a man by his side, either. He always stood alone. Royal, regal, imposing, impressive - but alone. His very stature showed the proud and majestic nature.

Little did his subjects know that the Prince lived with a broken heart. Despite his riches, he was not happy. But he never let any of it show on his face. He had long ago learnt to keep a smile on his face; a smile that weakened the knees of many girls. The mask did break down at times, though. The Council of Ministers had been shocked to see tears flowing down the Prince's face at Dumbledore's funeral. It had been strange, because Dumbledore had severed his connections with the Prince when he had taken up his mantle. In fact, it was rumoured that Dumbledore had been the leader of the Resistance. The Aurors had been shocked to see him lose his temper at a snappy young woman telling off a young beggar. The woman had been frightened to death on seeing the cold, angry face of her ruler. Within a month, all magical beggars all over the world had been moved to appropriate houses. Most of the time, though, the Prince remained impassive and cold, glowing with an incredible aura of power, making people around him shiver.

The people did know, however, that the Prince was not too amicable these days. The Resistance had been troubling him badly. The Resistance was a group of people who wanted to set up a democracy. They wanted the Prince's monarchy to end. No one knew any of the members, though. They kept themselves hidden properly.

Another strange thing about the Prince was that his friends had disappeared the day Dumbledore had sent him away. Much to the surprise of the people, the Prince never even ventured towards Hogwarts after that, not even after Dumbledore's death. Professor Minerva McGonagall was the Headmistress now. The Prince had kept his distance from her, too. He never interfered with the functioning of his old school. His best friends, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger were no longer by his side. Even the DA, which had played a large part in the defeat of Voldemort, had vanished. Of course, no one dared to mention them, for it was known to make the Prince angry, and his anger had grave consequences, often fatal. A quiet rumour also went about that the Resistance was probably formed of the Prince's friends.

How true they were.