CHAPTER 1
Harry was running fast, his sides bursting with the pain and his breath was short. He stopped a second to catch his breath, but started running again, as soon as the person caught up with him. Harry may be fifteen, quite small and vulnerable looking, but he was very fast. Strange objects flashed past him that became cold and terrifying. His heart was beating so fast, he thought it was going to explode.
But suddenly he stopped. In front of him was a huge cauldron, which apparently was boiling and beside the cauldron stood none other than Voldemort. "Voldemort!", Harry exclaimed shocked. "In the flesh Mr. Potter", Voldemort replied. The dark misty air started swirling again and he found himself beside the dead body of Cedric. His skin had started to rot and parts of his skull were already visible. Harry covered his mouth and looked away, but the image of Cedric wouldn't fade away. He looked around to see that Death Eaters were standing around him in a circle, closing in on him. Harry tried to back away but he was surrounded. Harry held on tight to the now fast decaying remains of Cedric Diggory. Closing his eyes and wishing with all his might to be away from here, caused the air around him to swirl around again, but this time the only thing he saw were Voldemort's glistening red eyes. A voice came from nowhere saying in that slow high pitched murmur, he had heard many times before, "Happy Birthday Harry". Suddenly Harry's scar erupted in pain and those red eyes seemed to be drilling a hole through his brain. The familiar voice of his mother pleading for mercy, was all that Harry could hear, and then that high pitched laughter filled the darkness. Harry was tumbling down an endless tunnel and all he could hear was his mother's voice and Voldemort's high pitched laughter.
Harry woke up screaming. He quickly hushed himself up, as he could hear Uncle Vernon's groan and him moving in his bed. Harry looked at the watch beside his bed and saw that it was twelve o clock exactly. Harry realised that his scar was burning dully and quickly looked around himself to make sure he was alone. But all he saw was his usual room cluttered full with Dudley's old toys. It seemed that Dudley got even more presents for the summer, but Harry couldn't see why, since Dudley had hardly lost any weight. His mind quickly flicked back to Voldemort and wondered whether he was nearby. He sat a moment in silence when he suddenly heard a quiet murmur. Harry got up and walked to the window to see who was there, when he saw something, which he will never forget for the rest of his life. There shining brightly in the sky was none other than the Dark Mark.
Harry scrambled back to his bed shaking his head and muttering under his breath, "I've got to do something.got to get out of here.Dumbledore". Nothing Harry said made sense, and Harry's body started shaking, vibrating with every wave of fear that was rushing over him. "Pull yourself together Harry", he thought and he steadied himself. He slowly got up and walked to his desk where he started to write a letter to Dumbledore. When he finished, he tried to tie the letter to Hedwig's leg but his hands were shaking too hard. Harry took a deep breath and continued. He brought Hedwig to the window and as she flew off, Harry had a strange feeling that he may never see her again. Harry quickly shook of these thoughts and gathered his things together. He had to get out of here, as quick as possible before Voldemort appeared again. Harry knew his house was protected but it was common knowledge that Voldemort was getting stronger every day and how long Harry could hide in this house he didn't know. He went to the loose floorboard, stuffed all his things in his trunk, which he was allowed to keep in his room after many arguments with Uncle Vernon, took out his wand and carried his trunk down the stairs. He pondered on the thought of telling Uncle Vernon ,but decided he had no time. Opening the door and dragging his trunk out, he had a sudden bright idea and bewitched his trunk to make it feather light. As he was walking down the end of Privet Drive he realised that there were many people about in dark hooded cloaks. "Death Eaters!", he said to himself and realised that if they were there Voldemort would soon come. Running as fast as he could, he ran down a dark alley and stopped in a dark corner. "What am I going to do now", he thought. Hedwig was gone, Death Eaters were everywhere and Voldemort was going to apparate any minute. He was in a very bad predicament and he had no idea how he was going to get out of it.
Harry could hear mumbling on the street and as quietly as possible, pulled his trunk in behind a dumpster and hid there. Trying to keep his breathing as quiet as possible, he tried with all his might to think of a way out of there. "If only I could be invisible". Then it hit him, how could he be so stupid! He fumbled for his invisibility cloak in his trunk and after a few unbearable minutes, he felt the familiar silky, flowing touch that could only be his cloak. He pulled out his wand and whispered, "Minimisious". There was a faint pop and his trunk shrunk to the size of a matchbox. He carefully placed the small trunk in his trouser pocket and put on the invisibility cloak. Harry silently darted out of the alley and weaved his way in and out of Death Eaters and headed on down the street. After a minute or two of walking, he stopped, "where do I go now?", he asked himself. The Weaslsey's lived too far away and he had no way of reaching Sirius. Harry walked to the edge of the pavement and held out his wand, and sure enough, only a few seconds later he saw the familiar headlights of the Knight Bus. But unfortunately, so did the Death Eaters. They quickly huddled together and a second later Voldemort appeared among them. At least Harry thought it was Voldemort, because all the Death Eaters huddled around him. The bus driver of the Knight Bus came up to him but he didn't need to ask as he saw the Death Eaters running up the street, wands ready. Harry slammed the door shut and the bus driver slammed on the brakes so hard that Harry was thrown against the wall with a tremendous force. He quickly got up and looked out the window and saw the Death Eaters blasting shots of light at the Knight Bus, but the bus was too fast and a few seconds later they had completely left the Death Eaters behind. Harry sighed a sigh of relief and went to the front of the bus and sat beside the bus driver. "Bloody Hell, that was close!", the bus driver exclaimed. "Too close", Harry replied. "Thanks for coming so fast". "Its my job", and with that the bus driver looked at Harry and exclaimed, "Bloody Hell, you're Harry Potter! No wonder they wanted to get you so bad. By the way I'm Ernie Shunpike." "Yeah I know, I was on this bus two years ago. Have you got a cabin for me?" "Yeah, cabin seven is free. That will be seven sickles." Harry took out his trunk, placed it on the floor, pulled out his wand and said, "Maximisious". With a small pop the trunk returned to his original size. Harry retrieved his purse and paid the bus driver. Harry dragged his trunk into cabin seven and lay on the bed. It only then dawned on him how stupid he was. The Dark Mark was placed to scare Harry and it worked and he only then realised he could have been killed. Suddenly Harry's head felt a lot heavier and he had a weak feeling in his stomach. He didn't know where to go, all he did know was that Voldemort's followers would catch up soon enough. Harry went out to the bus driver and told him to stop outside the Leaky Cauldron in London. Not even five minutes after Harry said that, the bus stopped abruptly, obviously Stan still hadn't learnt to drive properly, pulled his trunk out on the pavement and stood there outside The Leaky Cauldron, while the Knight Bus drove off with a bang. With a heavy head and a weak stomach, Harry dragged his Trunk inside the Leaky Cauldron.
Harry was running fast, his sides bursting with the pain and his breath was short. He stopped a second to catch his breath, but started running again, as soon as the person caught up with him. Harry may be fifteen, quite small and vulnerable looking, but he was very fast. Strange objects flashed past him that became cold and terrifying. His heart was beating so fast, he thought it was going to explode.
But suddenly he stopped. In front of him was a huge cauldron, which apparently was boiling and beside the cauldron stood none other than Voldemort. "Voldemort!", Harry exclaimed shocked. "In the flesh Mr. Potter", Voldemort replied. The dark misty air started swirling again and he found himself beside the dead body of Cedric. His skin had started to rot and parts of his skull were already visible. Harry covered his mouth and looked away, but the image of Cedric wouldn't fade away. He looked around to see that Death Eaters were standing around him in a circle, closing in on him. Harry tried to back away but he was surrounded. Harry held on tight to the now fast decaying remains of Cedric Diggory. Closing his eyes and wishing with all his might to be away from here, caused the air around him to swirl around again, but this time the only thing he saw were Voldemort's glistening red eyes. A voice came from nowhere saying in that slow high pitched murmur, he had heard many times before, "Happy Birthday Harry". Suddenly Harry's scar erupted in pain and those red eyes seemed to be drilling a hole through his brain. The familiar voice of his mother pleading for mercy, was all that Harry could hear, and then that high pitched laughter filled the darkness. Harry was tumbling down an endless tunnel and all he could hear was his mother's voice and Voldemort's high pitched laughter.
Harry woke up screaming. He quickly hushed himself up, as he could hear Uncle Vernon's groan and him moving in his bed. Harry looked at the watch beside his bed and saw that it was twelve o clock exactly. Harry realised that his scar was burning dully and quickly looked around himself to make sure he was alone. But all he saw was his usual room cluttered full with Dudley's old toys. It seemed that Dudley got even more presents for the summer, but Harry couldn't see why, since Dudley had hardly lost any weight. His mind quickly flicked back to Voldemort and wondered whether he was nearby. He sat a moment in silence when he suddenly heard a quiet murmur. Harry got up and walked to the window to see who was there, when he saw something, which he will never forget for the rest of his life. There shining brightly in the sky was none other than the Dark Mark.
Harry scrambled back to his bed shaking his head and muttering under his breath, "I've got to do something.got to get out of here.Dumbledore". Nothing Harry said made sense, and Harry's body started shaking, vibrating with every wave of fear that was rushing over him. "Pull yourself together Harry", he thought and he steadied himself. He slowly got up and walked to his desk where he started to write a letter to Dumbledore. When he finished, he tried to tie the letter to Hedwig's leg but his hands were shaking too hard. Harry took a deep breath and continued. He brought Hedwig to the window and as she flew off, Harry had a strange feeling that he may never see her again. Harry quickly shook of these thoughts and gathered his things together. He had to get out of here, as quick as possible before Voldemort appeared again. Harry knew his house was protected but it was common knowledge that Voldemort was getting stronger every day and how long Harry could hide in this house he didn't know. He went to the loose floorboard, stuffed all his things in his trunk, which he was allowed to keep in his room after many arguments with Uncle Vernon, took out his wand and carried his trunk down the stairs. He pondered on the thought of telling Uncle Vernon ,but decided he had no time. Opening the door and dragging his trunk out, he had a sudden bright idea and bewitched his trunk to make it feather light. As he was walking down the end of Privet Drive he realised that there were many people about in dark hooded cloaks. "Death Eaters!", he said to himself and realised that if they were there Voldemort would soon come. Running as fast as he could, he ran down a dark alley and stopped in a dark corner. "What am I going to do now", he thought. Hedwig was gone, Death Eaters were everywhere and Voldemort was going to apparate any minute. He was in a very bad predicament and he had no idea how he was going to get out of it.
Harry could hear mumbling on the street and as quietly as possible, pulled his trunk in behind a dumpster and hid there. Trying to keep his breathing as quiet as possible, he tried with all his might to think of a way out of there. "If only I could be invisible". Then it hit him, how could he be so stupid! He fumbled for his invisibility cloak in his trunk and after a few unbearable minutes, he felt the familiar silky, flowing touch that could only be his cloak. He pulled out his wand and whispered, "Minimisious". There was a faint pop and his trunk shrunk to the size of a matchbox. He carefully placed the small trunk in his trouser pocket and put on the invisibility cloak. Harry silently darted out of the alley and weaved his way in and out of Death Eaters and headed on down the street. After a minute or two of walking, he stopped, "where do I go now?", he asked himself. The Weaslsey's lived too far away and he had no way of reaching Sirius. Harry walked to the edge of the pavement and held out his wand, and sure enough, only a few seconds later he saw the familiar headlights of the Knight Bus. But unfortunately, so did the Death Eaters. They quickly huddled together and a second later Voldemort appeared among them. At least Harry thought it was Voldemort, because all the Death Eaters huddled around him. The bus driver of the Knight Bus came up to him but he didn't need to ask as he saw the Death Eaters running up the street, wands ready. Harry slammed the door shut and the bus driver slammed on the brakes so hard that Harry was thrown against the wall with a tremendous force. He quickly got up and looked out the window and saw the Death Eaters blasting shots of light at the Knight Bus, but the bus was too fast and a few seconds later they had completely left the Death Eaters behind. Harry sighed a sigh of relief and went to the front of the bus and sat beside the bus driver. "Bloody Hell, that was close!", the bus driver exclaimed. "Too close", Harry replied. "Thanks for coming so fast". "Its my job", and with that the bus driver looked at Harry and exclaimed, "Bloody Hell, you're Harry Potter! No wonder they wanted to get you so bad. By the way I'm Ernie Shunpike." "Yeah I know, I was on this bus two years ago. Have you got a cabin for me?" "Yeah, cabin seven is free. That will be seven sickles." Harry took out his trunk, placed it on the floor, pulled out his wand and said, "Maximisious". With a small pop the trunk returned to his original size. Harry retrieved his purse and paid the bus driver. Harry dragged his trunk into cabin seven and lay on the bed. It only then dawned on him how stupid he was. The Dark Mark was placed to scare Harry and it worked and he only then realised he could have been killed. Suddenly Harry's head felt a lot heavier and he had a weak feeling in his stomach. He didn't know where to go, all he did know was that Voldemort's followers would catch up soon enough. Harry went out to the bus driver and told him to stop outside the Leaky Cauldron in London. Not even five minutes after Harry said that, the bus stopped abruptly, obviously Stan still hadn't learnt to drive properly, pulled his trunk out on the pavement and stood there outside The Leaky Cauldron, while the Knight Bus drove off with a bang. With a heavy head and a weak stomach, Harry dragged his Trunk inside the Leaky Cauldron.