Harry Potter and the Dawn of Eternity
PROLOGUE
This is a tale of war. It recounts the end of an age of heroes.
It is something vague, contemplated as a concept lost in the echoes of reality. That's all. But within the depths of its anguish filled essence lies something else...something veiled in the shroud of an evil that's been marching forward for years.
Coursing through everything is the stench of fear, embedding itself into normal lives like tears in the rain. There is a horrible truth; that, in a moment, you will be obliterated, left in ruins by the enemy that, for all you know, lives right next door. Because, in the end, if this war has taught anyone anything, it's that trust is an antiquated concept. Neighbor against neighbor, friend against friend, husband against wife, father against son. The Death Eaters have accomplished exactly what they set out to – mistrust and deception are traditions, just as common as the Sunday post.
Every morning, millions awaken to fresh horrors, accepting truth because it's the only choice they have. It's like watching the worst possible nightmare unfold, day after day, on paper, knowing that you have NO power to affect its outcome: hundreds dead in Belfast, hundreds more in Winchester. This dark campaign barrels forward, and at every attempt to squeeze the life of the darkness, it acts as all shadows are expected to act: elusive, evading...perfectly duplicitous.
Panic spreads through the festering carcass that is the wizarding world. This kind of terror seeps into all levels of society, from the government to common families. It's what causes parents to stay awake at night, constantly opening doors, desperate to know of their children's safety.
It's funny. They really needn't bother.
They wonder how it is that their children can sleep so well at night. Because, in these kinds of days, they believe that children are not immune to the complete and horrible truth.
You-Know-Who's armada is growing. Fast.
Every day, recruits join the ranks. And much of what terrifies parents is the fact they cannot get away from – most of those eager to serve the Dark Lord are young. Far too young. Barely into their teenage years, drunk with the visions of power they feel in their grasp.
It's fearsome to realize this. But for the children, safe in their beds, nothing in the world could possibly be wrong. Forget, for a moment, all that's happened, or happening – to the little ones, these fears are unnecessary, because they fail to incorporate one very important fact.
Harry can do anything.
That's it. The end. Finished. No more discussion required.
Never before has there been a more universal truth than this: the trio of Harry, Ron, and Hermione can do anything. Simple as that.
They are fierce. They are unstoppable.
When the call goes out, they answer. It's like clockwork. They are the Ministry of Magic's ultimate go-to-guys. Sure, there may be more seasoned wizards...wizards more physically crafted. But HHR represents the Aurors' greatest, most powerful fighting force.
Granger, the definitive perfectionist; a wizard who'd rather not fight, but who, when forced to, has more knowledge and craft of spell technique than any wizard alive. Weasley, the lovable goof of the group; silly exterior belying the ferocity with which he sets to his task. And Potter; power incarnate, the hero whose flair and style on the battlefield offsets the quiet intensity he's held inside his entire life.
Together, they form a spectral aura with unlimited power – together, they allow none to escape their grasp.
No Death Eater can stand up to them. Period.
And so, in homes around the world, as mothers weep over the Daily Prophet, and as fathers pace back and forth, pondering which protective enchantment will best guard their family, it is the children who take on role of "parent" for themselves.
Don't worry. Everything will be alright.
Half-baked smiles are mustered at these words. It still amazes mother and father that their little one has grown so much – that this child has been forced to mature in a falling world. In the end, it scares them. No child should have to do that.
And, at the end of the day, the parents still worry. Because, there are stories. Stories no parent wishes to tell their child. Stories that defy acceptable levels of terror; because, no matter the assurance that the children give, there is a terrible fact to be faced.
Heroes are human, too. Susceptible to darkness. Parvati Patil proved that when she left all she knew to join with Voldemort.
It hits home, every now and again. The betrayal felt. After all, death, no matter whose, shakes the world. But Neville Longbottom's capture by Patil, someone he once called friend, was something else altogether. The lengths she went through to torture him...dismantle him...is one of the many stark reminders of why this war should terrify everyone.
And, just when it was thought that no more could be endured, reports begin to come in. And a new kind of anguish finds its way into the hearts of wizards everywhere.
Albus Dumbledore, the calm, powerful leader of the ultimate battle against darkness, has been taken captive.
Once again, tears spring to the eyes of the mothers. The children cannot understand why...cannot understand that those tears are of fear...because Dumbledore represents everything they're fighting for.
It is because of this fear that the vision behind the younglings' words is not seen. The mothers and fathers cannot see what is so blindingly obvious, and for a moment, the children wonder why. It's too easy to miss.
Childrens' eyes.
They will win. I know it.
And in this, the twilight of the age of heroes, that is all there is needed.
