Disclaimer: I do not own any of J.K. Rowling's characters. I own the rights to my original character Claudia Rondine (pronounced: roh-dee-nay) and any other original characters that pop up in this fic.

Authors Note: An action/adventure/Suspense/Mystery set after Ootp. Not shippy. Slightly AU, new spin on HBP. Read and enjoy!

Chapter 1 - The Vision

Harry Potter normally did not fall asleep while doing his summer reading for Professor Snape's class. However, due to circumstances and due to Snape's temperamental feelings the past year, Harry and along with his entire class had to write five essays on five different potions. Each essay had to be three rolls of parchment about the pros and cons of each potion and even more about the history with a bibliography included.

Falling asleep was, however, not on the list.

He had laid his head upon his desk just so he could get five minutes rest and yet five minutes had turned into fifty minutes. His arms were propped upon the taped together desk that Uncle Vernon had taken the liberty of fixing. Of course, Uncle Vernon could have used his drills to fix it but he did not want to take much time to do something remotely thoughtful for Harry. Harry's quill fell to the side and fluttered upon the floor. Soon, he would wake up to find that he had fallen asleep upon his parchment. He would find that half of Snape's assignment had smeared across his face.

Tonight, Harry had to battle the most vulgar creature in the world, his Uncle Vernon. Not that Harry feared him any longer but he was thoroughly exhausted from arguing. And anyway, he was stuck here forever now, wasn't he?

Stuck here forever. All hopes were dashed after Sirius had fallen. He remembered a conversation that they had during his third year. Sirius had asked Harry to live with him. Of course, it could not have happened at the time considering that Sirius was a fugitive. But, Harry had clung onto that tiny hope that some day he would leave Privet Drive. Now, that day was never to come.

The weather was quite humid for a London night and he soon began to quiver as his desk was close to the window. His breath came out in short gasps and he broke out in a cold sweat. Was he in a dream?

He tried to open his eyes but could not and wandered into this dream that seemed so alive. It seemed as though every object that surrounded him had a texture. He reached out to grab an empty potion flask but his hand went right through as though he were a ghost. Suddenly, his surroundings changed and he found himself standing in the orchestral pit of an auditorium. But, this auditorium was a dome-like coliseum. He looked up at the dome. The dome was surrounded by silver serpents that seemed to be winding through the stained glass. The stained glass depicted the rise of Voldemort. Harry eyed the dome in curiosity as he wondered what he had stumbled into. As he moved up the steps to the stage, he noticed that there was a crowded mass in black huddled together. Harry's heart jumped when he took a step closer and realized what was behind the black cloaks.

All that Harry could see was a thin hand and a voice crying out in pain. Wasn't there anyone to help this man? Harry turned around and saw Umbridge in the audience, her hands glittering with her gaudy rings and a huge grin upon her frog-like features. "Are you enjoying this," Harry shouted to her beaming features. "ARE YOU ENJOYING THIS?"

Before long, Harry's dream dissolved into a dark corridor. He could feel the presence of Ron and Hermione but he knew that they were not alone. He knew that there was another person with them. "Behold, the hour of darkness falls," the voice whispered. The voice was rather ethereal yet authoritative at the same time. He knew this to be the voice of a woman.

Harry heard a distant rattling sound and as he drifted on, it grew louder and louder until his eyes opened. He sighed at Hedwig, who had been making the noise all along. "Hedwig," Harry yawned, for, he was irritated that he had been awoken from his dream. Hedwig stared at Harry and abruptly the rattling stopped. Harry placed his arms over his face to block the sunlight from the window. He was appalled at how short his dream seemed yet in reality how much time had truly passed by. "Hopefully," he whispered, "My dream can start where it left off."

The rattling started again.

Harry rolled his eyes and tried to go back to sleep, "Sssh. Hedwig, you don't want to-"

The door opened and Aunt Petunia walked into the room. Harry pretended to be asleep as Aunt Petunia checked in on the room. He opened his eyes slightly and found that she had picked up a school book of his and was flipping through it. Harry coughed and turned around to send Aunt Petunia an incredulous look. Aunt Petunia stepped back with a wide-eyed stare.

Harry looked up at her and replied, "Hello."

Aunt Petunia scoffed at the book that was in her hand, "Your book just fell down."

"Yes."

She cleared her throat," That bird is making an infernal racket and when Uncle Vernon hears-"

Aunt Petunia left the room in anger and leaving Harry rather satisfied. Last year, Harry would have written to Sirius about such a dream because he would have known what to do. But, now, there was no one to tell anything to. He doubted that he even wanted to tell Ron or Hermione anything anymore because they would just tell him to go to Dumbledore. Sirius was the only person that he felt really comfortable telling everything to.

He looked at his essay and groaned. All the words had been smeared, the writing was still readable. However, the parchment was not tidy enough for Professor Snape's class. He tossed the essay aside because he had finished the other two essays. He would rewrite the essay again today.

But, what was bothering him was the dream that he had. He had not dreamt of dementors in the longest time. Also, what was this place that he had dreamt of? He knew what Hermione would have told him to do. She would have told him to make a list of everything that he had seen in the dream.

Harry took out a clean roll of parchment and picked his quill up from the floor. He jotted down a list of everything that he had seen.

1. dome, stained glass, silver serpent statue things

2. stained glass told story of Voldemort's rise

3. auditorium

4. Umbridge

5. dementors

6. potion flask

7. ghost-like feeling

8. man in pain... couldn't see him

9. dark corridor... could be Hogwarts?

10. Ron, Hermione, and someone else ... who is the other person?

Harry heard his Uncle shout his name and with a large sigh, he heaved himself off of his chair to walk downstairs with the knowledge that he would receive yet another lecture.

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