Okay – so I decided to embrace the genre of cheesy plot and write one of
those fics that I usually laugh at but read anyways. I'm not entirely sure
where the plot is going at the moment but it will definitely involve Harry,
Sirius and Snape. I haven't decided what pairings (if any) are going to
appear so prepare to be surprised! At the moment there is a low rating, but
as I go on it is likely to get darker and push up the rating a bit.
The Apprentice.
Summary: Harry gets an unusual letter on his 15th birthday
Spoilers: PS/SS, CoS, PoA, GoF
Disclaimer: I do not own anything you recognise. I might own the bits you haven't seen before. If I have unwittingly stolen from other fics, tell me and I'll give them due credit. I have only borrowed the characters from JK and will put them back later after I've had my wicked way with them...
Rating: PG-13
Chapter 1: Summer
In the typical way of British summers, the family of number 4, Privet Drive were confined to the house as gale-force winds shook the windows and rain came down in buckets. Harry Potter, who was confined to Dudley's second bedroom, stared out of the rain-streaked window. He was waiting for Hedwig to come back from last night's hunting, though he didn't expect that she would come during the storm. He was bored and lonely and almost managing to forget about the last task in the maze and Cedric's limp body in his arms...
Harry settled back against the wall and picked up his forgotten Defence textbook. In the few short weeks that he had been 'home' he had read and re- read all of the books he owned on Defence, even the Lockhart ones (which were actually quite accurate if you only read the bits that were on topic – the first time he had forced himself to read the books, he had gone through them with a highlighter and could now easily find those parts that were useful without having to read too much of the author's self-obsessed ramblings). Now that Voldemort was back he needed to know all that he could.
Having just re-opened his book and found the correct page, Harry heard a yell from downstairs. There was an angry shout of "BOY!" from his uncle which brought him running down the stairs and into the kitchen. The sight that greeted him was quite amusing and he had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing.
His Aunt Petunia was standing on a stool in the corner of the room, cowering away from the owl that was perched on top of the stove and the spider that was sitting on the ceiling above her head. Vernon was staring purple-faced at the owl but refusing to move and Dudley was under the table with an entire apple pie, though strangely he was not eating it but splitting his attention between the door and his parents. Once Harry had distracted their attention away from the door, he took off up the stairs.
Harry looked at the owl – he didn't recognise it but he approached it anyway. Attached to the owl's leg was a letter addressed to his Aunt, or rather to 'Petunia Evans' which Harry assumed was his Aunt's maiden name. Harry removed it and passed it to the still-cowering woman, dismissing the owl. Not waiting to see it leave, Harry turned to his Aunt who was staring blankly at the letter, hand shaking.
"Open it, it won't bite." Harry advised her.
"If you're so sure of that, you open it!" and she thrust the letter into his hands. Harry decided that he'd better be careful since he couldn't use his wand to check if the letter was safe, and lay it down on the table, opening it with the knife which was probably out to cut the pie that Dudley had stolen. Once he determined that no spells were going to fly out and there were no strange substances (he remembered too well the bubotuber pus incident) he pulled the letter out and handed it to his Aunt.
As she read it, her eyes went wide and her expression went from dubious to shocked to angry to scared in the course of about three seconds. Harry wondered who could have sent the letter, but he didn't dare ask – he wanted his dinner!
"Harry..." the boy did a double-take – had she just called him by his first name?
"Yes, Aunt Petunia?"
"You will go to your room and pack your belongings. Tomorrow morning, you will be collected by two people calling themselves Padfoot and Moony – ridiculous names if you ask me but you people are strange enough..."
"They're not names, they're nicknames. That's my godfather and Professor Lupin!" Harry was suddenly very excited.
Uncle Vernon sputtered with rage.
"That is not important!" Snapped his aunt. "The letter says that the 'bumblebee' has decided that it would be safe for you to go with them – why do your people always insist on speaking in code?"
Harry looked at her, not sure whether to answer. "The bumblebee must be Dumbledore. They will have written in code because Voldemort might have intercepted the owl – that's probably why it was addressed to you, too."
At the mention of Voldemort, Petunia looked even more scared than before – she knew the name of the man that had killed her sister. She had thought that he was dead. Vernon saw this and shot a dirty look at Harry.
Harry was waved away by his aunt and made no attempt to stay any longer. He bolted to his room as quickly as he could. He was leaving! He was going away with his godfather in the morning – on his Birthday! This was going to be the best birthday ever!
Once he had calmed a little, he proceeded to pack as his aunt had instructed. He put everything in his trunk barring the book that he was still reading. Determined to make the afternoon pass more quickly, he opened his book and began to read...
A/n: Hoped you like it! Sorry its not too long – I will update as soon as I can. Please review!
The Apprentice.
Summary: Harry gets an unusual letter on his 15th birthday
Spoilers: PS/SS, CoS, PoA, GoF
Disclaimer: I do not own anything you recognise. I might own the bits you haven't seen before. If I have unwittingly stolen from other fics, tell me and I'll give them due credit. I have only borrowed the characters from JK and will put them back later after I've had my wicked way with them...
Rating: PG-13
Chapter 1: Summer
In the typical way of British summers, the family of number 4, Privet Drive were confined to the house as gale-force winds shook the windows and rain came down in buckets. Harry Potter, who was confined to Dudley's second bedroom, stared out of the rain-streaked window. He was waiting for Hedwig to come back from last night's hunting, though he didn't expect that she would come during the storm. He was bored and lonely and almost managing to forget about the last task in the maze and Cedric's limp body in his arms...
Harry settled back against the wall and picked up his forgotten Defence textbook. In the few short weeks that he had been 'home' he had read and re- read all of the books he owned on Defence, even the Lockhart ones (which were actually quite accurate if you only read the bits that were on topic – the first time he had forced himself to read the books, he had gone through them with a highlighter and could now easily find those parts that were useful without having to read too much of the author's self-obsessed ramblings). Now that Voldemort was back he needed to know all that he could.
Having just re-opened his book and found the correct page, Harry heard a yell from downstairs. There was an angry shout of "BOY!" from his uncle which brought him running down the stairs and into the kitchen. The sight that greeted him was quite amusing and he had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing.
His Aunt Petunia was standing on a stool in the corner of the room, cowering away from the owl that was perched on top of the stove and the spider that was sitting on the ceiling above her head. Vernon was staring purple-faced at the owl but refusing to move and Dudley was under the table with an entire apple pie, though strangely he was not eating it but splitting his attention between the door and his parents. Once Harry had distracted their attention away from the door, he took off up the stairs.
Harry looked at the owl – he didn't recognise it but he approached it anyway. Attached to the owl's leg was a letter addressed to his Aunt, or rather to 'Petunia Evans' which Harry assumed was his Aunt's maiden name. Harry removed it and passed it to the still-cowering woman, dismissing the owl. Not waiting to see it leave, Harry turned to his Aunt who was staring blankly at the letter, hand shaking.
"Open it, it won't bite." Harry advised her.
"If you're so sure of that, you open it!" and she thrust the letter into his hands. Harry decided that he'd better be careful since he couldn't use his wand to check if the letter was safe, and lay it down on the table, opening it with the knife which was probably out to cut the pie that Dudley had stolen. Once he determined that no spells were going to fly out and there were no strange substances (he remembered too well the bubotuber pus incident) he pulled the letter out and handed it to his Aunt.
As she read it, her eyes went wide and her expression went from dubious to shocked to angry to scared in the course of about three seconds. Harry wondered who could have sent the letter, but he didn't dare ask – he wanted his dinner!
"Harry..." the boy did a double-take – had she just called him by his first name?
"Yes, Aunt Petunia?"
"You will go to your room and pack your belongings. Tomorrow morning, you will be collected by two people calling themselves Padfoot and Moony – ridiculous names if you ask me but you people are strange enough..."
"They're not names, they're nicknames. That's my godfather and Professor Lupin!" Harry was suddenly very excited.
Uncle Vernon sputtered with rage.
"That is not important!" Snapped his aunt. "The letter says that the 'bumblebee' has decided that it would be safe for you to go with them – why do your people always insist on speaking in code?"
Harry looked at her, not sure whether to answer. "The bumblebee must be Dumbledore. They will have written in code because Voldemort might have intercepted the owl – that's probably why it was addressed to you, too."
At the mention of Voldemort, Petunia looked even more scared than before – she knew the name of the man that had killed her sister. She had thought that he was dead. Vernon saw this and shot a dirty look at Harry.
Harry was waved away by his aunt and made no attempt to stay any longer. He bolted to his room as quickly as he could. He was leaving! He was going away with his godfather in the morning – on his Birthday! This was going to be the best birthday ever!
Once he had calmed a little, he proceeded to pack as his aunt had instructed. He put everything in his trunk barring the book that he was still reading. Determined to make the afternoon pass more quickly, he opened his book and began to read...
A/n: Hoped you like it! Sorry its not too long – I will update as soon as I can. Please review!