Wow, it's brilliant! You have the most creative ideas I've seen.
I love the way James behaved, since he was so calm and showed such a great self-control that I think even Harry who had gone through a lot was impressed. So I really hope he wouldn't tell Dumbledore the story as soon as he sees the man. After all, James Potter is an adult, not a student who couldn't make a decision without the help of the great headmaster.
As for Harry, I'm a little worried. I've seen the so-called independent!Harry or powerful!Harry who may be independent and powerful but also seems to hold extreme and radical opinions which ironically made me feel he was still immature and lacked a quality of trust and tolerance and forgiveness and anything else that cannon Harry was full of. Since so far I find that despite the strength and firmness your Harry implied, he's a good young man. I hope he won't behave cynical later.
I wonder if the teenage Harry will play a role in the story as it seems that this version of Harry is not just an ordinary happy boy who lives a happy life and has a lot of happy people to love and to be loved.
And reluctantly I want to suggest that you use as few OCs as possible in your story. An OC wife for Sirius is bad enough, and whoever this Bethany person is, sister or not, I'm almost annoyed with her already... though I must say it's your decision to design characters so don't be bothered by what I said... most of them are just rubbish.
Oh, and lastly, please update soon!
Author's response
Hi...I first want to say that I really appreciate the review you left on my story. It is rare to get such an in depth and honest review. So thank you very much for taking the time.
As for some of your concerns, Harry will not be the typical Indy!Harry or Powerful!Harry. He is powerful and well trained, has survived a war, but he hasn't lost all of who he was in Canon. The changes in him and the altering of some of his view are byproducts of the war that he fought in his timeline. Like war does to all, he was forced to adapt and learn to do what was necessary to survive. However, in essence, he remains 'good'. He has a strict moral code that he lives by, which will become more apparent as the story continues.
As for teenage Harry, questions will be answered in regards to him. Though, I won't elaborate further on his role, as I don't want to give away spoilers.
Lastly, there will be OCs spread throughout the story. It's just the way things go. While JKR gave us a whole slew of characters, in retro speck, she gave us very few, as the Wizarding World is a vast place filled with plenty of witches and wizards all across the globe. However, I give my solemn promise that my OCs will not be rubbish, as you so put it. They will not take over the story, or be in scenes where they shouldn't be, and most importantly, Mary-Sues/Gary-Stews will be murdered and erased before they even reach publishing.
Anyways, before I get into a ramble on OCs and proper characterization and whatnot, I ought to end it here.
Thanks again for you wonderful review.