To Conquer Death
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter!!
Some quotes are taken from OOTP!
Chapter 1: Dreams and Realities
Harry Potter found himself walking through the dark corridor to the Department of Mysteries, his footsteps echoing throughout the hall. He pushed open the black door but instead of taking him to the Hall of Prophecies, he found himself standing in a dimly lit room he instantly recognized as the Death Chamber. In the very center of the room stood a stone archway with the black, tattered veil that fluttered lightly without the help of wind. Harry continued to stare at the veil, fighting back the desire to walk through it. A sudden crash brought Harry out of his reverie and he realized that he wasn't the only one in the chamber.
A tall man with long, black hair had just sent a pale jet of light at a woman who deflected the jinx. Harry's heart leapt...Sirius! He saw the woman, Bellatrix, send a red jet of light at Sirius, who ducked the curse easily.
"This time is going to be different!" Harry thought excitedly, "She missed! Sirius didn't fall through!"
Harry's joy quickly evaporated, however, when he heard Sirius's bark like laugh and the echoing words that soon followed.
"Come on, you can do better than that!" Sirius taunted.
Bellatrix, grinning maliciously, hit him with another jet of red light and he began to stagger towards the veil.
"NOOOO!!!' Harry shouted, but Bellatrix wasn't paying any attention to him.
"SIRIUS!" Harry shouted again and began to run to the archway.
Harry broke into a run as he struggled to reach his godfather before it was too late...but it already was.
He watched his godfather inevitably fall into the veil for a second time.
Bellatrix let out a triumphant laugh. Harry reached into the pocket of his robe and grabbed his wand tightly. He pulled it out quickly and fired his own curse at her.
"Curcio!" he cried; he wanted to make her suffer, make her pay.
He watched as the curse hurled straight towards her, however, before the curse could hit her, she faded from view. A new wave of sorrow washed over Harry, but then another thought occurred to him.
"It's not too late!' he thought desperately, "He's only just gone through!"
There was no Lupin to hold him back this time, to stop him from going through the veil and saving Sirius. Harry reached the base of the archway and hesitated for a few moments.
"Where does this lead to?" He wondered nervously.
"He can't come back, Harry!" a voice echoed through his head, "he can't come back because he's dead!"
"He's not dead!" Harry argued back.
With this new thought in mind Harry took a few more steps closer to the veil. The black curtain was swaying back and forth, beckoning him closer, as if trying to persuade him to walk through. As he walked closer, the voices continued to fill his head. The closer he got the stronger the voices became.
"No! Not Harry! Take me! Kill me instead!"
"Bow to death, Harry...It might be painless, I would not know, I have never died..."
"Well, it's more the fact that he exists."
All the voices and screams of painful memories continued to fill his head. How was he supposed to concentrate with all the voices in his head? Harry tried to clear his mind and thought only of Sirius. He was here to save him. He had to!
"...it made him realize that the one person whom you would go to any lengths to rescue was Sirius Black."
This new thought filled Harry with new determination. There was no one to stop him, no one to hold him back. He was going to save his godfather even if it cost him his life. He extended his hand to touch the veil and his whole body shivered and he suddenly felt cold. One more step would take him inside...would he even be able to come out again?
Harry took a few steps back and prepared himself to run straight into the curtain, which now started blowing as if it were caught in a draft. He was going through, nobody could stop him this time!
"I'm coming, Sirius!" Harry told him silently.
He broke into another run and went straight at the veil. He was going to see Sirius again! One more second...SLAM!
Harry Potter jolted out of his bed and fell onto the floor. He looked around the messy room and realized that he wasn't anywhere near the Department of Mysteries or the archway. He was still in his small bedroom at Number Four, Privet Drive, and Sirius was still dead.
Outside his bedroom he could hear the rain pouring on the roof. The drought that had affected the people of Privet Drive last year had ended and instead it seemed to do nothing but rain this summer. The rain had been a topic of complaint from his Uncle Vernon, who had complained all last summer about the lack of it. Harry stepped to his window and looked outside, smiling a bit grimly as a flash of lightening lit up the room for few fleeting seconds. If anything, the weather outside reflected Harry's mood perfectly.
It had taken Harry most of the summer to accept that Sirius was gone and was never coming back, even if a small part of him still thought it was possible. The dreams didn't help him at all. Whether he liked it or not, however, the dreams he kept having were occurring more and more often as the summer progressed.
A few months ago, Harry's godfather, Sirius Black, died when fell into a veil in the Department of Mysteries fighting Bellatrix Lestrange. Harry had come to Privet Drive even gloomier than usual, even the Dursleys noticed. For whatever reason though, they didn't ask Harry what was wrong, and he hadn't bothered to tell them. For the past two years now, his aunt and uncle had been living in fear of the idea that their nephew had a convicted criminal for a godfather. He saw no reason to tell them he was dead.
This summer, though, his relatives did seem to be ignoring him a lot more than they usually did. That may have had something to do with the fact that a handful of the Order members approached them at the train station at the end of the fifth year and told them what would happen if they gave Harry a hard time during the summer. The Dursleys seemed to take the threat seriously. Every morning, he saw his aunt checking out the kitchen window at least three times a day to make sure no wizards, especially ones with pink hair, marched up their lawn.
They really didn't need to worry though because Harry had almost no contact with anyone from the wizarding world this summer. Ron and Hermione had wrote him a few times to see how he was, but that was about it. It seemed that a few weeks after the fifth year ended, Hermione had gone to stay at Grimmauld Place, the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, again along with the Weasleys. Harry didn't bother asking when he was going to leave Privet Drive because he wasn't all that sure he wanted to go back to Grimmauld Place knowing that Sirius wasn't there.
The only thing that had helped ease Harry's pain was the knowledge that the whole of the wizarding world now believed that Sirius was innocent. Hermione sent him a Daily Prophet article, as he still refused to buy the paper, shortly after he came back to the Dursleys'. The article went on about how Sirius had been framed and endured twelve years in Azkaban though he was innocent. Harry suspected that Dumbledore had something to do with the article making headlines since the Ministry was now perfectly willing to listen to him now. Though, after being proven wrong about Voldemort being dead, they would have to be stupid not to.
As Harry picked himself off the floor he listened for any sound of movement that might indicate the Dursleys were awake. They obviously weren't because he could hear Dudley's snores from across the hall. Harry looked around the room and his eyes rested on the calendar he kept that marked down the days till September first. As he followed the marks across the page, he realized that he would be marking of the second to last day in July. Tomorrow was his birthday! How could he not have realized it? Though with all that had been going on it really wasn't all that surprising. He had never had much reason to look forwards to his birthdays, especially now that he knew about the prophecy.
After returning from the Ministry of Magic building, Dumbledore had explained to Harry all about the prophecy concerning a wizard who would be born at the end of July who would either kill or be killed by Voldemort. This meant him. Harry hadn't told anyone about the prophecy, not even his two best friends, and he was going to keep it that way for now.
Harry glanced at his clock and he realized that it was only three in the morning. Not really feeling like going back to sleep, he picked up his book Quidditch through the Ages and began to read. Since his fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was his O.W.L (Ordinary Wizarding Level) year, his teachers didn't assign homework for the summer holidays. Come to think of it, he hadn't even gotten his O.W.L results yet. He really wasn't to worried about that though because Ron and Hermione had both assured him that they hadn't received theirs either. He couldn't help but smile at the image of Hermione in a panic because she didn't know how she did. Harry was pretty sure that she got perfect scores because she was the top of their class at just about everything.
As Harry started to read though, he began to drift off again.
When he woke up again, the rain had stopped, but the house was still quiet, with the exception of snores. Harry glanced at his clock and realized that he had fallen asleep again. The clock now read seven, but Harry resisted the urge to go back to sleep.
Feeling that it might be a good idea to get out of the house for a while, now that it had finally stopped raining for a bit, Harry got dressed in his baggy clothes and was about to reach for the door handle when a tap on the window stopped him. He looked to see a handsome, official looking, barn owl perched on the window outside. Harry took the letter from the owl and watched as it flew away. He didn't recognize the owl but he certainly recognized the seal on the letter, after getting so many warnings about the use of underage magic it was hard not to. It was from the Ministry of Magic, his O.W.L results had finally come! He broke the seal and two pieces of parchment fell out. He picked up the letter first and began to read:
Dear Mr. Potter,
We are pleased to inform you that the results
of your Ordinary Wizarding Level have arrived. As
you know, these results determine what N.E.W.T
classes you will be taking at Hogwarts School of
Witchcraft and Wizardry. Have a nice day.
Griselda Marchbanks
Wizarding Examinations Authority
Ministry of Magic
Harry tossed aside the letter and picked up the second piece of parchment which contained his grades. These grades would determine whether or not he peruse his career as an auror. He took a few deep breaths and then looked down at the paper; it read:
Ordinary Wizarding Results For:
Harry James Potter
Subject: Grade:
Charms: O
Transfiguration: E
Herbology: E
Defense Against the Dark Arts: O
Potions: O
Care of Magical Creatures: O
Astronomy: P
Divination: P
History of Magic: D
Harry stared blankly at the grades on the paper. He got an O in potions! This could mean that he could continue trying for his career as an Auror, but was sitting through two more years with Snape really worth it? He could picture the disbelieving look that would almost certainly be on the potions master's face if he were to walk into N.E.W.Ts potions at the start of the term. Well, he would worry about what classes to take later.
Harry put the two pieces of parchment back into the envelope and tossed it on the desk and quietly slipped out the front door. He really doubted whether the Dursleys would notice he was gone, but it was probably a good idea not to wake them. It still smelled like rain the second he stepped outside. He walked through the familiar streets of Little Whinging, avoiding the place where he had first seen Sirius in his animal form. The streets were mostly deserted, but he watched with mild amusement as some of the early rising neighbors scrambled to get out of his way. His aunt and uncle explained to the entire neighborhood that Harry attended St. Brutus's Secure Center for Incurably Criminal Boys, so naturally they were afraid of him.
Harry had been walking along the streets when he began to feel the rain starting all over again. He thought he should head back anyways, as it was about time for breakfast. Along the way he passed Mrs. Figg's house and saw Mr. Tibbles crawl out from a bush, desperately trying to make it inside before it really started to pour. Harry had found out last year that Mrs. Figg was actually a squib and a member of the Order. Harry hadn't talked to her all summer and did briefly wonder sometimes if she still had her cats keep an eye on him. He hadn't seen any members of the Order anywhere near Privet Drive but often listened to see if they were still following him. He really hoped not because he had proven time and time again that he could take care of himself but people still insisted on treating him like a child! The only person that had ever truly treated him like an adult was Sirius, but he was now gone. Like it or not though, the witches and wizards he knew would have to start treating him like an adult eventually, because if the prophecy was true, he was their only hope for defeating Voldemort, and he didn't want to think of what would happen if he failed.
A/N: Well this was my first attempt at a Harry Potter fic! How was it? There may be some grammar mistakes (I probably need to get a beta-reader for that.) Please review! Well the next chapter should be up in a few more days (the more reviews the sooner I tend to update!)