Hello everybody! This is my first Harry Potter FanFic, so be nice. I have writeen some original things, but I have never posted anything online. Please respond to this. I am already working on the next few chapters, but I'm not going to post anyhting until I get some replies. Behind every good story are good readers. Please tell me how you feel about this story. Thank you.

-Keith-


Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
by
Keith Wilcoxon

Based on characters, themes, and settings of
The Harry Potter Series
by
J.K. Rowling

Chapter 1

Friend or Foe?

Cornelius Fudge looked down from where he sat. "Now, Mister Malfoy, you realize that your disappearance at this particular time is highly inconceivable." Cornelius Fudge was sitting in his office where his desk sits high over the chairs in which any guest sat. Lucius Malfoy sat in front of him with fear on his face.

"Sir, I assure you that my absence from the ministry is only due to the fear for my poor family members. You know my history. You-know-who will not be pleased when he finds that I have defected to the Ministry of Magic. He will come after me."

"Yes, Lucius, I am well aware of your reasoning, but we cannot allow someone with your past to just run off for two months and give them a warm welcome."

"But, sir, I-"

"Sorry, Lucius. I see no other solution than to send you to Azkaban prison. However, it won't have quite the same effect since the dementors have gone. We will keep your family safe."

"No, sir, please." Lucius stood up straight now. "I swear, if you throw me in there you'll regret it."

"Is that a threat?" The Minister raised his voice out of pure spite for Malfo as well as his former master. At that time the wall of the Minister's office crashed down and light flooded in from the outside.

"Yes, it most certainly is a threat, Cornelius." Voldemort stood with his wand raised pointing at Fudge.

"V-v-vol-"

"Avada Kadavra!" A green light flew through the room and the Minister fell to the floor. "Come Lucius."

"Yes, my Lord." Lucius Malfoy walked through the open wall at the heel of Voldemort. The outside of the Ministry of Magic was lit up with a green light eminating from the Dark Mark left behind to mark the death and destruction of Lord Voldemort.

"Harry Potter!" Uncle Vernon shouted for Harry to come to the kitchen. "Harry Potter!" He repeated. "Harry-"

"Vernon, he's not here."

"Oh, yes, Petunia. I forgot." The absence of Harry Potter had been lingering for a few weeks over Number Four Privet Drive. Every year now their nephew had been leaving earlier and earlier. After events that ended his last year at Hogwart's, Vernon and Petunia agreed as to how much help it could be to have a knowledgeable wizard around. Especially now that they both understood what the return of Lord Voldemort truly meant to the world.

It was August 20th, and Harry had left on July 3rd. The Dursleys would never forget that day. Wizards. Wands. Powder. Vernon had spent countless dollars repairing the house that the others refused to fix.

"I guess I can get my own coffee then," Vernon said rising from the table. "Where is Dudley anyhow?" As if in response to his question, the doorbell rang. Aunt Petunia went to answer it. As soon as she opened the door, she let out a ghastly scream; Vernon dropped the coffee pot on the ground and ran to the living room to see what was wrong. Standing in the doorway was a phoenix and a small, bespectacled cat.

Petunia fainted, and Vernon yelled at the top of his lungs. "What are you doing back here?! What would you do if somebody saw you?!"

With a quick cloud of smoke, the animals disappeared and in walked Harry Potter and Minerva McGonagall with faces so serious they would stop even the happiest circus clown.

"W-what's going on?" Vernon stammered out.

"We need to talk," Minerva said, staring him straight in the eye. "Ministry of Magic officials have warned that you may be at risk."

"Risk of what? Two crazed wizards entering my house in the middle of the afternoon, causing such a ruckus that the neighborhood committee might throw me out?"

"This is not a time to joke, Uncle Vernon."

"We have reason to believe that someone in this neighborhood is not a muggle."

"Well, of course, that batty old woman, Mrs. Figg. Even I knew about her-"

"No, Mister Dursley, someone else. They have been sending leaks about our whereabouts to the Dark Lord. This person has led to-" A silence followed these words as Minerva and Vernon noticed Harry hanging his head down.

"Led to what?" Vernon asked, lowering his voice so that the neighbors don't wonder too much about what is occurring at the perfect Number Four, Privet Drive.

"They have led to a series of deaths including the Minister of Magic himself." Minerva had a look of worry on his face as he made this last statement. He knew that when Voldemort penetrated the Ministry of Magic it would be near impossible to stop him.

"That can't be it," Vernon said, "Harry wouldn't be sad about that old bloat. I can tell Harry hasn't ever gotten along with those Ministry crackpots!"

"That's not it, okay?" Harry yelled. "My best friend, Ron has been taken by Voldemort's servants, and we don't have any idea where he is or...or...or if he's even alive." Tears started to stream down Harry's face.

"Well, what does any of this have to do with us?" Vernon asked as Petunia started to rise, neither of them showing the least bit of remorse for their nephew or his odd little friend.

"We have knowledge that someone in Little Whinging had been receiving Wizarding lessons for the past eight years from old servants of Lord Volemort in preparation for this very time and event. This person has unlawfully been turning themselves into a part of the magic community. They express great talent for one that was first presumed to be merely a muggle.

"What does this have to do with me?!"

"We should have known immediately who the cause of these interferences was. Who else would have known the exact whereabouts of Harry? How else would they know to intercept our owls to you and your family? We have only been keeping you informed because, being Harry's guardians for so many years, we believed that you might have the least bit of worry for how his fate has turned out. Little did we expect that the one person to betray him would be one of the only people we have to blame for his being alive today, his own mother's sister, Petunia Dursley."

Everyone looked at Petunia who stood straight up and pulled a wand out from behind her back. With a loud crack, she was gone.