- Most of the characters depicted here belong to J. K. Rowling. In fact the
only one I can really claim is Dameon Gray. He's mine, so hands off.
- This story takes place in Harry's fifth year. I think its a pretty safe time
period considering there's not even a damned release date for the next book.
-I am going to write this as if it really was a book, so please forgive the
repetition. If this really were the next book, Rowling would go back over some
of the content in the previous books in case the reader hadn't read the whole
series.
-This is rated PG-13 for some mild and not-so-mild language. This is mainly
on the part of Dameon since the Potter characters rarely use mild language.
There will also be some violence, but what's new about that, right?
Harry Potter sat in his room in Number 4, Privet Drive, staring at the ceiling
and listening to his stomach growl. His cousin, Dudley, was still on a diet
even though he hadn't lost any weight in the past year. He had, on the other
hand slowed down his weight gain and this, Harry's aunt decided, meant that
the diet was too soft. The whole family was put on the diet to show Dudley support
and Harry was scolded many times for not losing any weight. It wasn't his fault,
of course. Harry was quite skinny to begin with and now the only word that could
conceivably fit was "emaciated."
Harry's summer vacation was, as usual, unbearable. Harry's parents had died
when he was just one year old and he had living for the other fifteen with relatives
who wished he had had the decency to die with his parents. He now spent all
of his days in his room, finishing his holiday homework. The Dursleys used to
lock Harry in a cupboard under the stair until the day he had been called to
school.
Harry wanted to go to school more than anything in the world and not just because
it got him away from the Dursleys for the better part of a year. Harry was enrolled
in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, premier school of magic. Hogwarts
had become a second home to Harry and he could hardly wait to return in the
fall when he would be able to see his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione
Granger.
Ron had said that he would send Harry an invitation to stay the final two weeks
at his place, but Harry had received no owls, the post officers of wizards,
from him the entire summer. It was as Harry was sulking over this that there
was a tapping at the window. Harry could hear Hedwig, his owl, hooting hautily
in her cage.
After shushing Hedwig and tiptoeing across the floor, Harry opened the window.
There was a flurry of feathers as three owls flew into the room and landed on
Harry's bed. A fourth and much smaller owl continued to circle the room, hooting
happily to itself. Harry recognized it as Ron's owl, Pig, and caught it before
it made anymore noise. Attached to its leg was letter and small package, both
of which Harry removed.
He opened the letter first. It read:
"Hey Harry,
Happy birthday!"
Jeez, Harry thought, I forgot it was my birthday.
"I hope Pig didn't lose your gift. Dad brought it home from work. I
thought you could use one after last year."
Harry opened the package and drew out a silver watch with a leather strap. His
old watch had broke after he had had to spend an hour under water last year.
Ron's father worked in the Ministry of Magic's Department of Muggle Artifacts,
which meant that this watch was almost certainly bewitched in some way.
"When you press the buttons on the side, it shows all the official Quiddich
scores and team standings. Now you can keep up with the Cannons and those Muggles
of yours won't know a thing about it.
I've got some bad news though, Dumbledore sent us an owl saying we can't have
you over this summer," Harry's heart sank, "but he wouldn't
tell us why. Sorry. Well, hope to see you in Diagon alley.
Ron"
Harry slipped on the watch and admired it for a while before getting the next
letter and long, thin package from a large barn owl. The envelope bore the Hogwarts
official seal. Harry snapped it quietly and pulled out three pieces of parchment.
The first one was a list of school supplies for the next year. There were an
awful lot of "To Be Announced" under the Teacher's column. The second
was from Dumbledore himself. It read:
"Dear Harry,
I regret to inform you that you cannot leave your aunt and uncle's care until
August 25th, in which you will be picked up at noon by a Hogwarts representative.
I'm sure you can understand that these security measures are for your own protection.
I'm sorry, Harry.
Professor Albus Dumbledore,
Headmaster Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry"
Harry sat for a few moments staring at the letter as though he was hoping it
would change. When this failed to happen, he set it aside and read the third
letter. It was from Sirius, Harry's fugitive godfather.
"Hello Harry,
Dumbledore's letting me stay at Hogwart's for now. The Ministry's afraid to
come near here after Fudge had that fight with Dumbledore. Happy birthday. I'm
sending you a gift with the school owl. You can use it this year, but not until
then, okay?
See you soon,
Sirius"
Harry's eyes moved to the package that came with the school owl. It was almost
three feet long and not more than three inches thick. Harry unwrapped it eagerly
and produced a beautiful short sword. Its sheath was jet black but its handle
was gold and had red letters that read "PERICVLVM APPROPINQVARI" on
the hilt. Harry unsheathed the sword and stared as it gleamed it the moonlight.
After an awe-struck fifteen minutes, he sheathed the blade again and turned
to another owl. This was also a school owl and also bore a letter and package.
The letter addressed in Hagrid's shaky scrawl. The letter read:
"Dear Harry,
There's a lot of changes a Hogwarts this year. I won't be teaching again this
year, for one. I'm doing a special favour for Dumbledore. I don't know whose
taking my place because I had to leave in a hurry. Dumbledore's also hired some
bloke to take care of security. I thought he'd do that himself but I suppose
he's been busy dealing with that idiot Fudge. I can't tell you where I am, but
maybe you're gift'll give you a clue.
Happy birthday, Harry
Hagrid"
Harry, interest peaked, tore open Hagrid's gift. Inside a plain brown box was
a pair of black dragon hide gloves. Hagrid's clue left Harry stumped, but the
gloves themselves were a quite exquisite gift. They would protect the wearer
for almost all temperatures and poisons and could deflect many powerful attacks,
magic or otherwise. Harry set them next to his other gifts and went to see to
the last owl. This one was wearing a collar bearing the insignia of the United
Owl Postal Service and was also carrying a letter and package. This letter was
addressed in Hermione's stiff handwriting. It read:
"Dear Harry,
Happy birthday. I hope you are enjoying your summer (but I don't see how you
could with those insufferable relatives of yours). I've spent the entire summer
studying for our O.W.L.s which, I suppose, you haven't given a second thought.
O.W.L.s (or Ordinary Wizarding Levels) were taken in the fifth year of Hogwarts
and, Hermione was right, Harry hadn't thought about them all summer.
Honestly, Harry, if it wasn't for me you'd have flunked out dozens of times.
I hope you can put your gift to good use. It has sample questions, grading levels,
practice tests, a list of ways to detect trick questions, and another list of
ways to bluff your way past difficult questions. When I saw it, I instantly
thought of you. I hope it helps.
Sincerely,
Hermione"
That Hermione, Harry thought, She's always worrying about me.
He slowly unwrapped Hermione's gift. It was a book, of course, entitled How
To Soar Through Your O.W.L.s. Well, he thought, now I have something to
do for the next few weeks.
Harry wrote his replies, sent the owls back, shut the window, and tucked most
of his new gifts under the loose floorboard under his bed. Then he spent a few
minutes lying in bed, fiddling with the buttons on his new watch. Harry sighed
deeply. He loved his gifts but they also reminded of all his friends that he
wouldn't get to see for another two months. Harry Potter fell asleep feeling
lonelier that he had ever felt before.
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-Please review. I definitely plan on writing more but I need you to tell me what you did or didn't like in this chapter. Chapter 2 will be called Unexpected Visitor.