Harry Potter and the Secret of Sirius
Chapter 1: Ambushes and Betrayals
The mid-summer heat radiated around the small suburb of Privet Drive and the surrounding streets. Seagulls flocked overhead, circling to find an unsuspecting victim to bother for food. Other than the occasional pass of cars, the day was completely void of all sound. For many, this would be considered a normal boring day, but not for a skinny 16 year old boy, laying in the shade of a large tree.
The prior days had passed uneventfully, as the encompassing ones would as well, but not today, for today was Harry's 16th birthday. Normally a birthday would be celebrated, but not for Harry. The Dursleys had once again abandoned him to attend a leisurely company picnic for Uncle Vernon's company. Harry however was immune at this time to the Dursleys abandoning him since it had been that way since he was accepted into Hogwarts.
The silence of the day was broken as a large delivery truck painted black screeched down his street and came to a stop in front of 4 Privet Drive. Before the wheels had stopped turning, men and women began piling out of the van, dressed in all black clothes and wearing hoods over their heads. Also, everyone of them brandished wands.
Harry quickly got up, dashed behind a nearby rock, and took his wand out of his pocket. He did not know who they were or what their purpose was, but Harry was sure as hell not going to sit around and find out.
The wizards began forming into a group around the front yard and began scouring the land around as if looking for something, or perhaps someone. Finally, one of them began scouting over to the rock that Harry was behind. As she approached, Harry leapt quickly from behind the rock, grabbed the witch's wand hand, and tore the wand from her grasp. Quickly, Harry tossed her wand into a bush and pointed his own wand at her temple.
"Who are you working for, and what are you doing," said Harry roughly, pushing his wand into her temple?
Harry waited several seconds for an answer, but when no answer came, he began threatening her.
"Tell me now, or I put you under the Imperius curse and use you to kill your own men. You wouldn't like that now would you? It won't have been the first illegal curse I've used," whispered Harry.
When still no response came, Harry raised his wand from her temple and muttered in a low but strong tone Imperio. Harry then handed the witch back her wand and commanded her to incapacitate her companions. Responding vigilantly, she hopped up and hobbled over to her comrades who began asking her questions about where she had gone. Suddenly, she whipped out her wand and began killing her surprised and shocked comrades. She had whittled their numbers down to two when one of them recovered from the shock and killed her. After this, the remaining two wizards sprinted over to the rock where she had appeared from and confronted an all but surprised Harry. The two wizards spoke in unison as a red beam of light shot out from their wands and immediately caused Harry to collapse into unconsciousness.
"Good morning Harry. How are you doing," said a voice from the entrance of a small prison cell?
"Fudge? What are you doing here? What is this place? Who attacked me," said Harry angrily, groping in his pocket for his wand, but found that it had been removed?
"Ohh yes, that. I figured you might want to know about that. Well, my elite squad was sent to your home to capture you alive and convert you to join Lord Voldemort's side. Think, all the immense power in the world and it would all be yours. The Dark Arts are good and the only true way to unleash your potential is to open yourself to them. Would you like to join the ranks of the all powerful, or flail helplessly with Dumbledore and his weak group of tattered wizards," replied Fudge, stepping closer to Harry.
"Let me think," said Harry," Join you and become a scumbag or stay with the true path of being a wizard. Come closer and let me tell you my decision."
At this, Fudge took another step closer. Harry then spit right on his feet. While Fudge was temporarily distracted, Harry side-stepped behind him and brought his forehand down on his neck. Fudge crumpled to the ground, dropping his wand at Harry's feet.
"Charming. What a wonderful week this is going to be," said Harry lifting Fudge's wand from his limp and unconscious body.
Striding over to the door, Harry held the wand cautiously ready to attack any enemies. Suddenly, an owl flew through the cell door and dropped a letter at his feet. Harry looked at the official seal of the letter and threw it at the cell wall where it was intercepted by a fiery blast from Fudge's wand.
Wait a second, thought Harry. If I possibly transfigure something, I can turn it into an owl, write to one of my friends, and let them know that I'm trapped at this place. At this, Harry began looking around the room for something to transfigure. Finally, he decided upon a medium sized pillow laying on a bed in the corner of the room.
This will be interesting, thought Harry to himself. He had never been good at transfiguration and now was probably not the time for him to start being good at it. Oh well, he thought as he pointed his wand at the pillow and muttered the words to transfigure it. His hopes began to raise as the pillow began to flash with light and turned into an owl. For once he had done it correctly. He quickly ran over to it and scribbled a quick note to Ron on the back of a piece of paper that he had found in Fudge's pocket.
After the note was sent, Harry collapsed onto the bed, and began to sit in a trance-like state, ready to spring into battle at any time.
As the time went on, he began to wonder whether his note would ever reach Ron at all. If it didn't, what were his chances of living much longer?
Chapter 2: The Daring Rescue
The day passed on, the sun fading past the small skylight plunging the room once again into darkness, still with no sign of a rescue. Harry began to think if the Dursleys would call the police when they found him missing, or just celebrate. Already, the thoughts of depression, hopelessness and abandonment, crept into his mind blocking out the thoughts of happiness, almost as if a dementor was nearby.
Eventually, too tired to sit and ponder his fate anymore, he collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep. In his sleep, he had visions of the place he was at, being under attack by a small group of covert wizards, rappelling down the outside walls and breaking through the windows. They began a thorough sweep of the many rooms, stunning the surprised occupants before they could even get up from their games of wizard chess. Finally, one of the stealth wizards stumbled across Harry's cell and found Harry, curled up on the bed, wand still in hand. The wizard signaled to the other agents and they assembled in Harry's cell. One of the covert wizards, Harry recognized as Amos Diggory of the Ministry of Magic. The tallest wizard of the group picked up Harry's sleeping body, and signaled to the team to disapparate. The instant the wizard who was carrying Harry disappeared, Harry, awoke from his vision-filled sleep and found himself lying in a very familiar looking place.
Harry rubbed his eyes and looked around the room. No wonder why it looks familiar, thought Harry, this was Ron's bedroom but how did he get here. He couldn't of apparated here, not without knowing it, could he?
Harry got up and found his clothes, wand and faithful owl, Hedwig, sitting in a corner. He quickly changed into his clothes, scooped up his wand and headed out towards the door. Right as he was about to open it, Mrs. Weasley burst into the room.
"Harry! It's so good to see that you're alive. We were beginning to worry that maybe you were going to be trapped at that awful death-eater fortress. Good thing you managed to find an owl and send a message to Ron. The owl flew here very quickly, so we knew it must be urgent. Arthur got the word right out to the Ministry who sent out the covert squad of wizards to take you back," said Mrs. Weasley.
"You mean that place was real! I thought that maybe I had just dreamed of it and my rescue. That's crazy," replied Harry, exasperated!
"Yes, well it may take you several days to recover from the shock. In the meantime, you can go play with Ron and Hermione. They both are downstairs reviewing some old spell books that Arthur had stored up in the attic," said Mrs. Weasley, walking over to the open doorway, and turning down the stairs.
Following her lead, Harry began heading down the stairs to join his two best friends. He found them huddled around a large pile of spell books. As he approached, the two of them both got up, and began pelting him with questions about what happened. Harry told them what happened, from the initial capture to waking up in Ron's room. After he had filled them in, they began filling him in on the research of new spells for the DA. Immediately, the three of them began scouring through the books, picking out the most useful curses and spells.
After several hours, they had two full feet of parchment, full of spells. They were starting their third foot when Mrs. Weasley called them all into dinner. After devouring the food, they took the spell books upstairs along with their parchment. Once they got upstairs into Ron's room, Hermione began telling Harry all the things that have happened over the past months.
"Well, there have only been a few disappearances, but nothing too drastic, well, except for the fact that Fudge resigned from his post as Minister of Magic. Nobody knows why though," said Hermione as Harry began to look around the room, not paying attention.
"Also, the most important news is that Ron and I have begun to date each other," said Hermione, to the shocked looks of both Harry and Ron. "Just kidding. I just did that to make you pay attention a bit."
"Oh, well you sure shocked me. By the way, Fudge joined the death- eaters. He was at their fortress and told me to join Voldemort in his quest to take over the world," said Harry, calmly.
"Oh my gosh. That's crazy. What did you do," answered Hermione, with a twinge of franticness in her voice?
"I did the right thing. I spit on him and then knocked him out and stole his wand," replied Harry.
"All right mate! Way to go. About time someone puts that jerk in his place. Too bad Malfoy or someone else you hated wasn't there for you to attack as well. Sounds like you were on a roll. The Improper Use of Magic office was about to expel you from Hogwarts, but Dumbledore informed them of the situation as soon as we heard about what happened," said Ron.
"Yeah. I guess I am pretty lucky. But you know what is even better? Having great friends like you, who don't invite me to join in on the planning for the DA," fumed Harry!
"We're sorry Harry. We just wanted to surprise you with all the work for DA that we've done. I hope that you will forgive us," said Hermione.
"It's just that I have to live with the Dursleys everyday for the whole summer while you two hook up together, Ron staring at Hermione the whole time and you guys just having all the fun. I'm sick and tired of being the outcast of the group. Why can't you just treat me normally," Harry said, ranting and pacing around the room.
"We aren't treating you like an outcast. It's just that Dumbledore wants you to stay with the Dursleys for as long as possible to escape the stress of being famous. He wants you to be able to escape the wizarding world. We promise we won't abandon you again. Now do you forgive us," answered Hermione?
"I'm sorry I ever chewed you guys out. You're the only family I really have. It sure is good to have friends like you, always there for me and ready to spring into action whenever trouble comes after me. Thanks guys," said Harry, hugging his two best friends.
Chapter 3: Another Beginning and a Fresh Start
The days went by with Harry and company working tirelessly on jotting down and recording new spells for the DA. Finally, it came time for the three of them to head out into Diagon Alley and purchase their new school supplies. Among the supplies were a full set of potion making supplies, new books such as Standard Spells, Grade Six, An Auror's Guide to the Dark Arts, and Complex Potions, and also other standard items such as new quills, parchment and ink. While shopping, they saw many of their classmates, notably Seamus, Dean, and Lavender, and unimportantly, Draco Malfoy.
At the end of the day, Harry and Ron headed into Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and started talking to Fred and George, learning that business was booming and that they had already paid off the debt of the supplies and rent and were currently racking in thousands of galleons a week. After talking for a while, Harry and Ron each bought some Ton-Tongue toffee and a portable swamp to stick in Filch's office.
Leaving the joke shop, Harry spotted Malfoy walk straight past Crabbe and Goyle. That's odd, thought Harry. Why didn't he talk to them and find out ways to bother them. Maybe he's changed. Probably not.
At last, the time came for them to pack up and board the Hogwarts Express. Harry, Ron and Hermione arrived and carried their trunks through the station until they reached Platform 9 ¾. Here, they casually walked through the barrier and hopped onto the train. The three of them found an empty compartment and sat down in it, relaxing for almost the first time that summer.
A couple of first year students came into the compartment and sat down, but soon left to go sit with other first years. Other than that, the compartment remained empty for the first half hour of the trip. Finally, another sixth year student came in; one that was not as invited, Malfoy. As he came in, both Harry and Hermione pulled their wands from their back pockets and slipped them into an area for easy use.
"Yes, Draco," said Hermione with a hint of uneasiness in her voice?
"There's no need to worry, Granger. I would just like to come in here and tell you about my, how should I put it, truce with you. As you know, my father was sent to Azkaban for being a death-eater. Ever since that happened, my mother has had more of an influence on me. Over the summer months, I have decided that my father was foolish in his activities and was an idiotic fool. I do not wish to idolize him in anyway, and nor do I wish to act as he would. I would like to know if perhaps I could side with you in your "fight", or rather effort, to eliminate Voldemort. May I join the DA and perhaps gain your trust and friendship," said Draco, in a rather sincere and humble sounding voice?
"Hmph," snorted Harry, trying to control his laughter. "This sure is far-fetched. Give us a minute to converse in quiet. And don't try using an extendable ear to listen in."
"Alright. I'll be waiting in the next compartment when you finish discussing. However, I would like you to consider what I said. I truly meant it," said Draco, shutting the compartment door.
"Well, that sure was, umm, interesting. I think we give him a shot at it."
"No Hermione, he could be making all of this up just to be able to ambush us. He is a Slytherin after all. Their whole point is being cunning and ruthless, taking any approach to gain a personal victory. But, if he is serious, he could be useful. After all, both he and Harry have had lots of dueling practice, primarily with each other."
"I say give him a chance, but make him earn our trust. We should stay alert though, in case he does turn on us. But if his mother did have that much of an influence on him, this could be good. What do you think about that Hermione?"
"Let's give him a shot but Ron is right. We shouldn't put our guard down, although he did sound particularly sincere and humble."
"Right. We've made our decision. Let's call him in," said Harry, standing up and walking over to the compartment door and calling Malfoy back in.
"We have decided that we will allow you to join the DA and possibly be friends with us, on the condition that you do not insult muggleborns, that you do not criticize the ability of others, but rather help them to better learn the concept they are struggling with, and finally, put us onto good terms with Professor Snape. In exchange, we will allow you to join the DA, hang out with us and join in on our "adventures". Does this sound fair," questioned Harry?
"I can do everything except possibly getting Snape on good terms with you. He hates you because of your father and that will be hard for anyone to undo. The hate is not necessarily directed towards you, but rather what you could possibly become, a replica of your father," said Malfoy.
"Okay. Fine by me. Welcome to the group."
The sorting went by as usual, the students being divided into the four houses, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. Harry hardly paid attention to the sorting, but instead stared over at the Slytherin table. He smirked with a feeling of satisfaction when he saw Draco sitting alone, away from Crabbe, Goyle, and the other Slytherin students. Perhaps Malfoy was being truthful.
After the sorting hat had been cleared away and the first-year students had taken a seat with their respective houses, Professor Dumbledore stood up and addressed the crowd.
"Welcome back to Hogwarts. Over the summer, I am sure that all of you have been aware of the present danger facing us, of Voldemort's return." At this, many of the students flinched. "During this time, we must stick to each other and have faith in the ability of others. Times have changed and it is no longer safe to leave trust with new people, for fear of betrayal. Betrayals can hurt and sometimes kill others. We do not want this to happen, but instead for everybody to confidently know that your friends and classmates will not betray you. I am sure you have had enough lecturing for now and I am sure that you will get plenty once classes start. So, dig in," said Dumbledore, standing up with his cup raised high in the air.
As soon as these magical words were said, food began appearing on the tables. Mounds of mashed potatoes, gallons of pumpkin juice and tons of chicken and turkey covered every inch of the table. After everyone had bloated themselves, the leftover food began to disappear. The prefects for each house began calling their house over to them. Harry, Hermione and Ron slowly walked behind the rest of the group, deep in conversation.
"Who do you think our new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher is going to be," said Hermione?
"I don't know, but I didn't see anyone new and also, there were no extra chairs set out either. They obviously will be teaching us quite a lot. The name of the book they assigned is 'An Auror's Guide to the Dark Arts'. That is a sure sign that we will learn a lot. From what I've heard, that's what Auror's use in their trainings," said Ron, so deep in conversation that he almost forgot to jump the trick step.
"It just better be better than last year's teachings," said Harry as they approached the painting of the Fat Lady.
Chapter 4: The Defense against the Dark Arts Teacher
The ensuing days passed by quickly. Finally, it was their first day of classes. Plans had already been made for their first DA meeting. The school year was well into the swing of things.
"Let's see. What do we have today? Oh, Defense against the Dark Arts is first period. Then we have Double Potions with the Slytherins. That should definitely be interesting to see how Malfoy's agreement holds up," said Hermione as they walked out the door of the Great Hall over to the Defense against the Dark Arts classroom.
"Oh my gosh," said Ron as they walked into the classroom and found Dumbledore sitting at the desk. "He must really want us to learn the Dark Arts."
They took a seat at the very front and waited for the rest of the class to come in. Once the rest of the class had come, Professor Dumbledore stood up and addressed the still shocked students.
"Hello class. I see that many of you are a bit surprised at finding that I am going to be teaching you this year. I feel that at this point and time of crisis, the Dark Arts, and the knowledge to prevent them, fight against them, and know when and how to use them is very vital. In this class, you will learn the dark arts, know how to fight fire against fire, or fight dark arts with dark arts, and know how to prevent dark arts. So in other words, you will learn and practice the dark arts so that you may be prepared in times where you may be confronted by them. So, now that you have been prepared with what you have encountered in this class, let us start with one of the illegal curse, the Crucio curse, or the torture curse. Do we have any volunteers? Well, of course Mr. Potter is the only one who really knows these so, go ahead and show us on another volunteer."
At this, everyone in the class shot their hands down to the floor, not wanting to be the torture victim.
"Well, if no one would like to volunteer, I guess we'll have to make our own targets," said Professor Dumbledore, pulling out his wand, directing it at an empty chair, and transfiguring it into a large cat. "We can use these transfigured objects to practice on. Now Harry, go ahead and show them."
"Ok," said Harry, pulling out his wand and beginning to form hateful thoughts and directing them all into one area of his mind, ready to explode. "Crucio!" he said, releasing his hatred and letting it flow through him. A beam of light burst from the tip of his wand and hit the creature full force, causing it to begin shaking violently. At this, many of the girls in the classroom screamed in horror.
"Very good Harry. Very good indeed," said Professor Dumbledore, transfiguring the still shaking animal back into a desk. "Now, we all get to try it," said Professor Dumbledore, redirecting his wand at all of the desks, transfiguring them into different animals. "Before you start however, you must know that using these on a fellow student will result in expulsion and possible imprisonment."
The rest of the class period was spent with the students practicing on their animals. By the time the class period was over, no one, not even Hermione was able to completely use the curse to its full potential.
"I just don't want to hurt the poor animal," said Hermione after class.
"I just don't want to hurt the poor death-eater who is trying to kill me," mimicked Ron.
"Ohh shut up about it already. Just because yours twitched a little and mine didn't doesn't mean that you're smarter than me. I just am better with 'legal' spells and curses," said Hermione, angrily.
"Guys, cool it. I'll see if I can get permission from Professor Dumbledore to see if we can practice them in the DA meetings," said Harry, turning back the other way towards the classroom. "I'll catch up with you in a minute and let you know what he says."
Harry quickly jogged back to the classroom as Professor Dumbledore was leaving.
"Professor Dumbledore, sir? I would like to know if perhaps my DA group can practice some of the curses in our meetings so that the students will be more prepared for the lessons and actual encounters. Do you think that may be possible," asked Harry nervously, shifting his weight from one leg to another?
"I do not know Harry? I do not want you to practice either the killing curse or the torture curse without a teacher present, however I may allow you to practice the Imperius curse, as long as you are mature and responsible for what happens. Other than that, I have no problems with you practicing the spells we learn in this class. If you would like to practice the other two curses, I am sure that I will be able to find a teacher who is willing to sit in on the meetings," said Professor Dumbledore, closing the classroom door and heading towards his office.
The following night was the first DA meeting. When Harry walked into the room, there were so many first-year students crowded in that he could hardly walk. After consulting with Hermione and Ron, he decided that almost three-quarters of them were there just to see him in person and get his autograph. Because of this, he decided to form try-outs for the first- years, hoping to drastically narrow the amount of new students.
As the try-outs went on, Harry politely asked the less serious ones, who could not perform a simple curse, and those who had no intent on learning the curses what so ever, to leave. After that had been done, Harry directed the remaining first-years over to Hermione to be documented as a member of the DA.
After this was completed, Harry began the meeting with a simple practice of the common curses, such as the disarming spell, jelly-legs, and the immobilizing curse. After they were all warmed up, Harry brought the fourth years and above over to a corner and told them what they would be learning in the meetings. At the mention that they were to learn some of the illegal curses, some of them gave a slight murmur of excitement.
The practice went on, the new members and some of the younger ones being taught the disarming spell, and other basic attacks by Hermione while Harry taught the older members the Imperius curse and how to avoid being controlled by it. After the practice, three could successfully cast the curse, and all but Neville could throw it off.
As the time of the meeting clicked to a close, Harry announced that the next meeting was to be the following week, same time, and same place.
Chapter 5: Potions Class
The following morning was double potions with the Slytherins. Normally not a fun experience, but now, it could be fairly interesting with Malfoy on friendly terms with them. As they walked into class, they saw no immediate changes. Snape still was polluting the room, yelling at kids who did anything to make him mad. However, when Snape came to them, they were in for a big surprise.
"Good morning Harry, Ron, Ms. Granger. Please find a seat that pleases you. I'm sure the class shall be most enjoyable and an excellent learning experience for all of you, even you Ms. Granger," said Professor Snape in his most charming voice.
"Uhhh.umm.sure," stuttered Harry, completely shocked.
The class went by, Professor Snape being fair to both classes, but especially biased towards Harry, Ron, Hermione, and of course Malfoy who had elected to share a seat with Hermione during the class. Hermione was especially shocked at this, the announcement of this almost made her fall out of her chair. At the end of the period, Malfoy offered to help Hermione pack up her things.
"Umm. Ok, you can help Malfoy," she said nervously, not knowing what to expect.
"Please, call me Draco," he replied, handing her her bag.
At this, Hermione quietly said goodbye and ran off to catch up with Harry and Ron. As she caught up with them, she began telling them what had happened before departing to Muggle Studies.
That night was another DA meeting. As Harry, Ron, Hermione and Draco entered the room, a few Slytherins who had snuck inside and knocked out the other members of the club ambushed them. As Harry looked around the room, he noticed that there were three times as many enemy on the floor than there were his club members. At this, he let out an audible smirk.
"Well, it looks like you have us cornered and outnumbered. Four against about twenty-four, pretty bad odds for you guys. Looks like we'll just have to show you what trained wizards can do," said Harry pulling out his wand as Hermione, Draco and Ron did the same. "You know, this may be pretty good practice. Death-eaters, like you wannabes, aren't about to fight us one on one. They're scared unless they have a 5 to 1 ratio over the enemy, just like you. Stupify!"
At this, havoc broke loose as the Slytherins panicked at their leader going down so quickly in the fight. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Draco however took advantage of this sudden confusion to stun about seven more of them before they even had a chance to react. The Slytherins then began casting stunning spells but were then cast once again into confusion when their spells bounced off their targets because of the shield charms that had been cast on them. Harry and crew once again took advantage of this and stunned several more of them. Now that the opening shots had been fired, the fighting was about to get dirty.
"Stupify" roared a Slytherin, aiming at Harry. Harry however saw this coming and flicked it to the side with his hand.
"Stupify! Impedimenta! Expecto Patronus!" yelled Harry, dodging spells all over the room. Through the whole assault, only Ron managed to get hit by a spell. Luckily, it was only the Jelly Legs curse, so he still continued to wobble around the room taking out Slytherins.
At last, Harry, Ron, Draco and Hermione had managed to clear the room of every Slytherin except one who they were quickly circling around.
"No! I won't let you take me down. I'll take you all with me. Avada Kedavra!" screamed the young third year as a little beam of green light flashed harmlessly past Harry and hit a wall.
"You have to mean the curses to cast them. Goodbye. Petrificus Totalus," said Harry, whipping his wand towards the boy.
"Well, that certainly was interesting. Ron, you run off to Madam Pompfrey in case any of the curses need medical aid and Hermione, you go get McGonagall to get rid of our "friends" here. Draco and I will revive the club members."
The next hour or so was spent reviving all of the club members, none of which were seriously hurt and listening to their "war stories". Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore both spent the time removing the Slytherins and talking to Harry, Ron Draco and Hermione to find out what had happened. After hearing the stories, Dumbledore removed the final Slytherins and brought them all down to the dungeons to be interrogated and punished.
After all the confusion and chaos was over, Harry called together his ragged and beat looking members and congratulated them on fending off the attackers and assuring them that he had not directed the attack as a test of their abilities although it was a good idea. After dismissing the group, he gathered up Ron and Hermione, said goodbye to Draco, and thanked him for helping to fight along side of them during the ambush.
Walking back to the common room, Harry, Ron and Hermione began noticing the odd stares that they were receiving from the other students. Wondering why they were being treated that way, they looked down and found that their robes were tattered and torn, with rips protruding around the whole thing. I guess they really had gotten into that fight, thought Harry.
The week continued on as usual with no news of the fight that had occurred being projected to the general public. The only news that reached Harry's ears of its existence was the sudden suspensions of many Slytherins and the expulsion of the one who had tried to kill Harry.
Chapter 6: The Mysterious Message
The following morning, Harry awoke to find Dobby, dressed in his finest tea cozy standing at the end of his bed.
"G'Morning Dobby. *Yawn*. What brings you here to me? Need some more socks?" said Harry, sitting up and grabbing his glasses.
"Mister Potter! So good to see you alive. I was worried about the fight that was going to happen against you. Mas.Maste.Malfoy put them all under the Imperius spell and directed them to kill you. He cursed them before he was sent to Azkaban and ordered them to attack you on yesterday's date," squeaked Dobby.
"So that attack was planned. It sure did need some more organization then. It was a pretty weak assault," said Harry.
"Mister Potter. I have a message for you. Dumbledore told me to deliver it to you, sir. Dobby not know who from."
"Umm thank you Dobby," said Harry, taking the small box from Dobby.
At this, there was a loud pop and Dobby disappeared, leaving Harry to open the package in silence. Not able to withhold the temptation, Harry ripped open the box and found a letter and a smaller package, wrapped in paper. He decided to open the letter first.
Dear Harry, If you are reading this letter, I am either dead or permanently unable to talk to you. Whatever the cause of this is, it probably relates to my brother. I know this will come as a shock to you but, I have been holding this secret from you, and your father, James, the whole time. My brother is Lord Voldemort. There is no 'Tom Riddle' or any of that fairy tale. His real name is Tom Black. He changed it to deny relation to me, his brother who didn't dislike muggles and mudbloods. Because of his ways, I have denied relation to him as well. I wish you luck when you ultimately square off to fight him. I am sorry that I have failed you in your conquest to defeat him.
Sincerely,
Sirius Black P.S. The package contains your father's dragon skin wand. It is extremely powerful and is very rare. You may need it since yours and Voldemort's wands cancel each other out.
After reading the letter, Harry picked up the wrapped wand and began to take the paper off it. The wand felt extremely light, yet Harry could feel the immense power and control flowing through it. Harry began flicking it around and decided to go down to the common room to test it out. As he walked into the common room, he found Hermione sitting in a chair near the fireplace.
"Hermione. Why are you down her this early. It's only five o'clock."
"Ohh, I'm just working out some last minute corrections to my potions essay. Whose wand is that that you have in your hand? It doesn't look like yours."
"It's not. It was my father's old wand. Made of dragon skin. Extremely powerful and extremely rare. It was sent to me in a package from Sirius. He told me that Voldemort is, that Voldemort is his brother and that all that Tom Riddle stuff is just a cover-up."
"Well, that certainly is interesting. So did you come down here to try out your wand?"
"Yup. Let's try it out with a duel."
"Ok. As you wish. This will also be good practice for DA."
The two of them both began to duel, first pulling out their wands and bowing to each other and then by taking a few steps back and then twirling around, ready to cast. Hermione cast first, sending a jelly legs curse flying towards Harry. Harry, being ever vigilant blocked it and sent a stunning spell flying past Hermione's wand hand. The stunning spell however turned around and hit Hermione in the back, knocking her unconscious.
"Whoa! That's what I call good control. I can make my spells turn around in mid-air. I think I am going to enjoy using this wand," said Harry as he revived Hermione.
Chapter 1: Ambushes and Betrayals
The mid-summer heat radiated around the small suburb of Privet Drive and the surrounding streets. Seagulls flocked overhead, circling to find an unsuspecting victim to bother for food. Other than the occasional pass of cars, the day was completely void of all sound. For many, this would be considered a normal boring day, but not for a skinny 16 year old boy, laying in the shade of a large tree.
The prior days had passed uneventfully, as the encompassing ones would as well, but not today, for today was Harry's 16th birthday. Normally a birthday would be celebrated, but not for Harry. The Dursleys had once again abandoned him to attend a leisurely company picnic for Uncle Vernon's company. Harry however was immune at this time to the Dursleys abandoning him since it had been that way since he was accepted into Hogwarts.
The silence of the day was broken as a large delivery truck painted black screeched down his street and came to a stop in front of 4 Privet Drive. Before the wheels had stopped turning, men and women began piling out of the van, dressed in all black clothes and wearing hoods over their heads. Also, everyone of them brandished wands.
Harry quickly got up, dashed behind a nearby rock, and took his wand out of his pocket. He did not know who they were or what their purpose was, but Harry was sure as hell not going to sit around and find out.
The wizards began forming into a group around the front yard and began scouring the land around as if looking for something, or perhaps someone. Finally, one of them began scouting over to the rock that Harry was behind. As she approached, Harry leapt quickly from behind the rock, grabbed the witch's wand hand, and tore the wand from her grasp. Quickly, Harry tossed her wand into a bush and pointed his own wand at her temple.
"Who are you working for, and what are you doing," said Harry roughly, pushing his wand into her temple?
Harry waited several seconds for an answer, but when no answer came, he began threatening her.
"Tell me now, or I put you under the Imperius curse and use you to kill your own men. You wouldn't like that now would you? It won't have been the first illegal curse I've used," whispered Harry.
When still no response came, Harry raised his wand from her temple and muttered in a low but strong tone Imperio. Harry then handed the witch back her wand and commanded her to incapacitate her companions. Responding vigilantly, she hopped up and hobbled over to her comrades who began asking her questions about where she had gone. Suddenly, she whipped out her wand and began killing her surprised and shocked comrades. She had whittled their numbers down to two when one of them recovered from the shock and killed her. After this, the remaining two wizards sprinted over to the rock where she had appeared from and confronted an all but surprised Harry. The two wizards spoke in unison as a red beam of light shot out from their wands and immediately caused Harry to collapse into unconsciousness.
"Good morning Harry. How are you doing," said a voice from the entrance of a small prison cell?
"Fudge? What are you doing here? What is this place? Who attacked me," said Harry angrily, groping in his pocket for his wand, but found that it had been removed?
"Ohh yes, that. I figured you might want to know about that. Well, my elite squad was sent to your home to capture you alive and convert you to join Lord Voldemort's side. Think, all the immense power in the world and it would all be yours. The Dark Arts are good and the only true way to unleash your potential is to open yourself to them. Would you like to join the ranks of the all powerful, or flail helplessly with Dumbledore and his weak group of tattered wizards," replied Fudge, stepping closer to Harry.
"Let me think," said Harry," Join you and become a scumbag or stay with the true path of being a wizard. Come closer and let me tell you my decision."
At this, Fudge took another step closer. Harry then spit right on his feet. While Fudge was temporarily distracted, Harry side-stepped behind him and brought his forehand down on his neck. Fudge crumpled to the ground, dropping his wand at Harry's feet.
"Charming. What a wonderful week this is going to be," said Harry lifting Fudge's wand from his limp and unconscious body.
Striding over to the door, Harry held the wand cautiously ready to attack any enemies. Suddenly, an owl flew through the cell door and dropped a letter at his feet. Harry looked at the official seal of the letter and threw it at the cell wall where it was intercepted by a fiery blast from Fudge's wand.
Wait a second, thought Harry. If I possibly transfigure something, I can turn it into an owl, write to one of my friends, and let them know that I'm trapped at this place. At this, Harry began looking around the room for something to transfigure. Finally, he decided upon a medium sized pillow laying on a bed in the corner of the room.
This will be interesting, thought Harry to himself. He had never been good at transfiguration and now was probably not the time for him to start being good at it. Oh well, he thought as he pointed his wand at the pillow and muttered the words to transfigure it. His hopes began to raise as the pillow began to flash with light and turned into an owl. For once he had done it correctly. He quickly ran over to it and scribbled a quick note to Ron on the back of a piece of paper that he had found in Fudge's pocket.
After the note was sent, Harry collapsed onto the bed, and began to sit in a trance-like state, ready to spring into battle at any time.
As the time went on, he began to wonder whether his note would ever reach Ron at all. If it didn't, what were his chances of living much longer?
Chapter 2: The Daring Rescue
The day passed on, the sun fading past the small skylight plunging the room once again into darkness, still with no sign of a rescue. Harry began to think if the Dursleys would call the police when they found him missing, or just celebrate. Already, the thoughts of depression, hopelessness and abandonment, crept into his mind blocking out the thoughts of happiness, almost as if a dementor was nearby.
Eventually, too tired to sit and ponder his fate anymore, he collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep. In his sleep, he had visions of the place he was at, being under attack by a small group of covert wizards, rappelling down the outside walls and breaking through the windows. They began a thorough sweep of the many rooms, stunning the surprised occupants before they could even get up from their games of wizard chess. Finally, one of the stealth wizards stumbled across Harry's cell and found Harry, curled up on the bed, wand still in hand. The wizard signaled to the other agents and they assembled in Harry's cell. One of the covert wizards, Harry recognized as Amos Diggory of the Ministry of Magic. The tallest wizard of the group picked up Harry's sleeping body, and signaled to the team to disapparate. The instant the wizard who was carrying Harry disappeared, Harry, awoke from his vision-filled sleep and found himself lying in a very familiar looking place.
Harry rubbed his eyes and looked around the room. No wonder why it looks familiar, thought Harry, this was Ron's bedroom but how did he get here. He couldn't of apparated here, not without knowing it, could he?
Harry got up and found his clothes, wand and faithful owl, Hedwig, sitting in a corner. He quickly changed into his clothes, scooped up his wand and headed out towards the door. Right as he was about to open it, Mrs. Weasley burst into the room.
"Harry! It's so good to see that you're alive. We were beginning to worry that maybe you were going to be trapped at that awful death-eater fortress. Good thing you managed to find an owl and send a message to Ron. The owl flew here very quickly, so we knew it must be urgent. Arthur got the word right out to the Ministry who sent out the covert squad of wizards to take you back," said Mrs. Weasley.
"You mean that place was real! I thought that maybe I had just dreamed of it and my rescue. That's crazy," replied Harry, exasperated!
"Yes, well it may take you several days to recover from the shock. In the meantime, you can go play with Ron and Hermione. They both are downstairs reviewing some old spell books that Arthur had stored up in the attic," said Mrs. Weasley, walking over to the open doorway, and turning down the stairs.
Following her lead, Harry began heading down the stairs to join his two best friends. He found them huddled around a large pile of spell books. As he approached, the two of them both got up, and began pelting him with questions about what happened. Harry told them what happened, from the initial capture to waking up in Ron's room. After he had filled them in, they began filling him in on the research of new spells for the DA. Immediately, the three of them began scouring through the books, picking out the most useful curses and spells.
After several hours, they had two full feet of parchment, full of spells. They were starting their third foot when Mrs. Weasley called them all into dinner. After devouring the food, they took the spell books upstairs along with their parchment. Once they got upstairs into Ron's room, Hermione began telling Harry all the things that have happened over the past months.
"Well, there have only been a few disappearances, but nothing too drastic, well, except for the fact that Fudge resigned from his post as Minister of Magic. Nobody knows why though," said Hermione as Harry began to look around the room, not paying attention.
"Also, the most important news is that Ron and I have begun to date each other," said Hermione, to the shocked looks of both Harry and Ron. "Just kidding. I just did that to make you pay attention a bit."
"Oh, well you sure shocked me. By the way, Fudge joined the death- eaters. He was at their fortress and told me to join Voldemort in his quest to take over the world," said Harry, calmly.
"Oh my gosh. That's crazy. What did you do," answered Hermione, with a twinge of franticness in her voice?
"I did the right thing. I spit on him and then knocked him out and stole his wand," replied Harry.
"All right mate! Way to go. About time someone puts that jerk in his place. Too bad Malfoy or someone else you hated wasn't there for you to attack as well. Sounds like you were on a roll. The Improper Use of Magic office was about to expel you from Hogwarts, but Dumbledore informed them of the situation as soon as we heard about what happened," said Ron.
"Yeah. I guess I am pretty lucky. But you know what is even better? Having great friends like you, who don't invite me to join in on the planning for the DA," fumed Harry!
"We're sorry Harry. We just wanted to surprise you with all the work for DA that we've done. I hope that you will forgive us," said Hermione.
"It's just that I have to live with the Dursleys everyday for the whole summer while you two hook up together, Ron staring at Hermione the whole time and you guys just having all the fun. I'm sick and tired of being the outcast of the group. Why can't you just treat me normally," Harry said, ranting and pacing around the room.
"We aren't treating you like an outcast. It's just that Dumbledore wants you to stay with the Dursleys for as long as possible to escape the stress of being famous. He wants you to be able to escape the wizarding world. We promise we won't abandon you again. Now do you forgive us," answered Hermione?
"I'm sorry I ever chewed you guys out. You're the only family I really have. It sure is good to have friends like you, always there for me and ready to spring into action whenever trouble comes after me. Thanks guys," said Harry, hugging his two best friends.
Chapter 3: Another Beginning and a Fresh Start
The days went by with Harry and company working tirelessly on jotting down and recording new spells for the DA. Finally, it came time for the three of them to head out into Diagon Alley and purchase their new school supplies. Among the supplies were a full set of potion making supplies, new books such as Standard Spells, Grade Six, An Auror's Guide to the Dark Arts, and Complex Potions, and also other standard items such as new quills, parchment and ink. While shopping, they saw many of their classmates, notably Seamus, Dean, and Lavender, and unimportantly, Draco Malfoy.
At the end of the day, Harry and Ron headed into Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and started talking to Fred and George, learning that business was booming and that they had already paid off the debt of the supplies and rent and were currently racking in thousands of galleons a week. After talking for a while, Harry and Ron each bought some Ton-Tongue toffee and a portable swamp to stick in Filch's office.
Leaving the joke shop, Harry spotted Malfoy walk straight past Crabbe and Goyle. That's odd, thought Harry. Why didn't he talk to them and find out ways to bother them. Maybe he's changed. Probably not.
At last, the time came for them to pack up and board the Hogwarts Express. Harry, Ron and Hermione arrived and carried their trunks through the station until they reached Platform 9 ¾. Here, they casually walked through the barrier and hopped onto the train. The three of them found an empty compartment and sat down in it, relaxing for almost the first time that summer.
A couple of first year students came into the compartment and sat down, but soon left to go sit with other first years. Other than that, the compartment remained empty for the first half hour of the trip. Finally, another sixth year student came in; one that was not as invited, Malfoy. As he came in, both Harry and Hermione pulled their wands from their back pockets and slipped them into an area for easy use.
"Yes, Draco," said Hermione with a hint of uneasiness in her voice?
"There's no need to worry, Granger. I would just like to come in here and tell you about my, how should I put it, truce with you. As you know, my father was sent to Azkaban for being a death-eater. Ever since that happened, my mother has had more of an influence on me. Over the summer months, I have decided that my father was foolish in his activities and was an idiotic fool. I do not wish to idolize him in anyway, and nor do I wish to act as he would. I would like to know if perhaps I could side with you in your "fight", or rather effort, to eliminate Voldemort. May I join the DA and perhaps gain your trust and friendship," said Draco, in a rather sincere and humble sounding voice?
"Hmph," snorted Harry, trying to control his laughter. "This sure is far-fetched. Give us a minute to converse in quiet. And don't try using an extendable ear to listen in."
"Alright. I'll be waiting in the next compartment when you finish discussing. However, I would like you to consider what I said. I truly meant it," said Draco, shutting the compartment door.
"Well, that sure was, umm, interesting. I think we give him a shot at it."
"No Hermione, he could be making all of this up just to be able to ambush us. He is a Slytherin after all. Their whole point is being cunning and ruthless, taking any approach to gain a personal victory. But, if he is serious, he could be useful. After all, both he and Harry have had lots of dueling practice, primarily with each other."
"I say give him a chance, but make him earn our trust. We should stay alert though, in case he does turn on us. But if his mother did have that much of an influence on him, this could be good. What do you think about that Hermione?"
"Let's give him a shot but Ron is right. We shouldn't put our guard down, although he did sound particularly sincere and humble."
"Right. We've made our decision. Let's call him in," said Harry, standing up and walking over to the compartment door and calling Malfoy back in.
"We have decided that we will allow you to join the DA and possibly be friends with us, on the condition that you do not insult muggleborns, that you do not criticize the ability of others, but rather help them to better learn the concept they are struggling with, and finally, put us onto good terms with Professor Snape. In exchange, we will allow you to join the DA, hang out with us and join in on our "adventures". Does this sound fair," questioned Harry?
"I can do everything except possibly getting Snape on good terms with you. He hates you because of your father and that will be hard for anyone to undo. The hate is not necessarily directed towards you, but rather what you could possibly become, a replica of your father," said Malfoy.
"Okay. Fine by me. Welcome to the group."
The sorting went by as usual, the students being divided into the four houses, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. Harry hardly paid attention to the sorting, but instead stared over at the Slytherin table. He smirked with a feeling of satisfaction when he saw Draco sitting alone, away from Crabbe, Goyle, and the other Slytherin students. Perhaps Malfoy was being truthful.
After the sorting hat had been cleared away and the first-year students had taken a seat with their respective houses, Professor Dumbledore stood up and addressed the crowd.
"Welcome back to Hogwarts. Over the summer, I am sure that all of you have been aware of the present danger facing us, of Voldemort's return." At this, many of the students flinched. "During this time, we must stick to each other and have faith in the ability of others. Times have changed and it is no longer safe to leave trust with new people, for fear of betrayal. Betrayals can hurt and sometimes kill others. We do not want this to happen, but instead for everybody to confidently know that your friends and classmates will not betray you. I am sure you have had enough lecturing for now and I am sure that you will get plenty once classes start. So, dig in," said Dumbledore, standing up with his cup raised high in the air.
As soon as these magical words were said, food began appearing on the tables. Mounds of mashed potatoes, gallons of pumpkin juice and tons of chicken and turkey covered every inch of the table. After everyone had bloated themselves, the leftover food began to disappear. The prefects for each house began calling their house over to them. Harry, Hermione and Ron slowly walked behind the rest of the group, deep in conversation.
"Who do you think our new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher is going to be," said Hermione?
"I don't know, but I didn't see anyone new and also, there were no extra chairs set out either. They obviously will be teaching us quite a lot. The name of the book they assigned is 'An Auror's Guide to the Dark Arts'. That is a sure sign that we will learn a lot. From what I've heard, that's what Auror's use in their trainings," said Ron, so deep in conversation that he almost forgot to jump the trick step.
"It just better be better than last year's teachings," said Harry as they approached the painting of the Fat Lady.
Chapter 4: The Defense against the Dark Arts Teacher
The ensuing days passed by quickly. Finally, it was their first day of classes. Plans had already been made for their first DA meeting. The school year was well into the swing of things.
"Let's see. What do we have today? Oh, Defense against the Dark Arts is first period. Then we have Double Potions with the Slytherins. That should definitely be interesting to see how Malfoy's agreement holds up," said Hermione as they walked out the door of the Great Hall over to the Defense against the Dark Arts classroom.
"Oh my gosh," said Ron as they walked into the classroom and found Dumbledore sitting at the desk. "He must really want us to learn the Dark Arts."
They took a seat at the very front and waited for the rest of the class to come in. Once the rest of the class had come, Professor Dumbledore stood up and addressed the still shocked students.
"Hello class. I see that many of you are a bit surprised at finding that I am going to be teaching you this year. I feel that at this point and time of crisis, the Dark Arts, and the knowledge to prevent them, fight against them, and know when and how to use them is very vital. In this class, you will learn the dark arts, know how to fight fire against fire, or fight dark arts with dark arts, and know how to prevent dark arts. So in other words, you will learn and practice the dark arts so that you may be prepared in times where you may be confronted by them. So, now that you have been prepared with what you have encountered in this class, let us start with one of the illegal curse, the Crucio curse, or the torture curse. Do we have any volunteers? Well, of course Mr. Potter is the only one who really knows these so, go ahead and show us on another volunteer."
At this, everyone in the class shot their hands down to the floor, not wanting to be the torture victim.
"Well, if no one would like to volunteer, I guess we'll have to make our own targets," said Professor Dumbledore, pulling out his wand, directing it at an empty chair, and transfiguring it into a large cat. "We can use these transfigured objects to practice on. Now Harry, go ahead and show them."
"Ok," said Harry, pulling out his wand and beginning to form hateful thoughts and directing them all into one area of his mind, ready to explode. "Crucio!" he said, releasing his hatred and letting it flow through him. A beam of light burst from the tip of his wand and hit the creature full force, causing it to begin shaking violently. At this, many of the girls in the classroom screamed in horror.
"Very good Harry. Very good indeed," said Professor Dumbledore, transfiguring the still shaking animal back into a desk. "Now, we all get to try it," said Professor Dumbledore, redirecting his wand at all of the desks, transfiguring them into different animals. "Before you start however, you must know that using these on a fellow student will result in expulsion and possible imprisonment."
The rest of the class period was spent with the students practicing on their animals. By the time the class period was over, no one, not even Hermione was able to completely use the curse to its full potential.
"I just don't want to hurt the poor animal," said Hermione after class.
"I just don't want to hurt the poor death-eater who is trying to kill me," mimicked Ron.
"Ohh shut up about it already. Just because yours twitched a little and mine didn't doesn't mean that you're smarter than me. I just am better with 'legal' spells and curses," said Hermione, angrily.
"Guys, cool it. I'll see if I can get permission from Professor Dumbledore to see if we can practice them in the DA meetings," said Harry, turning back the other way towards the classroom. "I'll catch up with you in a minute and let you know what he says."
Harry quickly jogged back to the classroom as Professor Dumbledore was leaving.
"Professor Dumbledore, sir? I would like to know if perhaps my DA group can practice some of the curses in our meetings so that the students will be more prepared for the lessons and actual encounters. Do you think that may be possible," asked Harry nervously, shifting his weight from one leg to another?
"I do not know Harry? I do not want you to practice either the killing curse or the torture curse without a teacher present, however I may allow you to practice the Imperius curse, as long as you are mature and responsible for what happens. Other than that, I have no problems with you practicing the spells we learn in this class. If you would like to practice the other two curses, I am sure that I will be able to find a teacher who is willing to sit in on the meetings," said Professor Dumbledore, closing the classroom door and heading towards his office.
The following night was the first DA meeting. When Harry walked into the room, there were so many first-year students crowded in that he could hardly walk. After consulting with Hermione and Ron, he decided that almost three-quarters of them were there just to see him in person and get his autograph. Because of this, he decided to form try-outs for the first- years, hoping to drastically narrow the amount of new students.
As the try-outs went on, Harry politely asked the less serious ones, who could not perform a simple curse, and those who had no intent on learning the curses what so ever, to leave. After that had been done, Harry directed the remaining first-years over to Hermione to be documented as a member of the DA.
After this was completed, Harry began the meeting with a simple practice of the common curses, such as the disarming spell, jelly-legs, and the immobilizing curse. After they were all warmed up, Harry brought the fourth years and above over to a corner and told them what they would be learning in the meetings. At the mention that they were to learn some of the illegal curses, some of them gave a slight murmur of excitement.
The practice went on, the new members and some of the younger ones being taught the disarming spell, and other basic attacks by Hermione while Harry taught the older members the Imperius curse and how to avoid being controlled by it. After the practice, three could successfully cast the curse, and all but Neville could throw it off.
As the time of the meeting clicked to a close, Harry announced that the next meeting was to be the following week, same time, and same place.
Chapter 5: Potions Class
The following morning was double potions with the Slytherins. Normally not a fun experience, but now, it could be fairly interesting with Malfoy on friendly terms with them. As they walked into class, they saw no immediate changes. Snape still was polluting the room, yelling at kids who did anything to make him mad. However, when Snape came to them, they were in for a big surprise.
"Good morning Harry, Ron, Ms. Granger. Please find a seat that pleases you. I'm sure the class shall be most enjoyable and an excellent learning experience for all of you, even you Ms. Granger," said Professor Snape in his most charming voice.
"Uhhh.umm.sure," stuttered Harry, completely shocked.
The class went by, Professor Snape being fair to both classes, but especially biased towards Harry, Ron, Hermione, and of course Malfoy who had elected to share a seat with Hermione during the class. Hermione was especially shocked at this, the announcement of this almost made her fall out of her chair. At the end of the period, Malfoy offered to help Hermione pack up her things.
"Umm. Ok, you can help Malfoy," she said nervously, not knowing what to expect.
"Please, call me Draco," he replied, handing her her bag.
At this, Hermione quietly said goodbye and ran off to catch up with Harry and Ron. As she caught up with them, she began telling them what had happened before departing to Muggle Studies.
That night was another DA meeting. As Harry, Ron, Hermione and Draco entered the room, a few Slytherins who had snuck inside and knocked out the other members of the club ambushed them. As Harry looked around the room, he noticed that there were three times as many enemy on the floor than there were his club members. At this, he let out an audible smirk.
"Well, it looks like you have us cornered and outnumbered. Four against about twenty-four, pretty bad odds for you guys. Looks like we'll just have to show you what trained wizards can do," said Harry pulling out his wand as Hermione, Draco and Ron did the same. "You know, this may be pretty good practice. Death-eaters, like you wannabes, aren't about to fight us one on one. They're scared unless they have a 5 to 1 ratio over the enemy, just like you. Stupify!"
At this, havoc broke loose as the Slytherins panicked at their leader going down so quickly in the fight. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Draco however took advantage of this sudden confusion to stun about seven more of them before they even had a chance to react. The Slytherins then began casting stunning spells but were then cast once again into confusion when their spells bounced off their targets because of the shield charms that had been cast on them. Harry and crew once again took advantage of this and stunned several more of them. Now that the opening shots had been fired, the fighting was about to get dirty.
"Stupify" roared a Slytherin, aiming at Harry. Harry however saw this coming and flicked it to the side with his hand.
"Stupify! Impedimenta! Expecto Patronus!" yelled Harry, dodging spells all over the room. Through the whole assault, only Ron managed to get hit by a spell. Luckily, it was only the Jelly Legs curse, so he still continued to wobble around the room taking out Slytherins.
At last, Harry, Ron, Draco and Hermione had managed to clear the room of every Slytherin except one who they were quickly circling around.
"No! I won't let you take me down. I'll take you all with me. Avada Kedavra!" screamed the young third year as a little beam of green light flashed harmlessly past Harry and hit a wall.
"You have to mean the curses to cast them. Goodbye. Petrificus Totalus," said Harry, whipping his wand towards the boy.
"Well, that certainly was interesting. Ron, you run off to Madam Pompfrey in case any of the curses need medical aid and Hermione, you go get McGonagall to get rid of our "friends" here. Draco and I will revive the club members."
The next hour or so was spent reviving all of the club members, none of which were seriously hurt and listening to their "war stories". Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore both spent the time removing the Slytherins and talking to Harry, Ron Draco and Hermione to find out what had happened. After hearing the stories, Dumbledore removed the final Slytherins and brought them all down to the dungeons to be interrogated and punished.
After all the confusion and chaos was over, Harry called together his ragged and beat looking members and congratulated them on fending off the attackers and assuring them that he had not directed the attack as a test of their abilities although it was a good idea. After dismissing the group, he gathered up Ron and Hermione, said goodbye to Draco, and thanked him for helping to fight along side of them during the ambush.
Walking back to the common room, Harry, Ron and Hermione began noticing the odd stares that they were receiving from the other students. Wondering why they were being treated that way, they looked down and found that their robes were tattered and torn, with rips protruding around the whole thing. I guess they really had gotten into that fight, thought Harry.
The week continued on as usual with no news of the fight that had occurred being projected to the general public. The only news that reached Harry's ears of its existence was the sudden suspensions of many Slytherins and the expulsion of the one who had tried to kill Harry.
Chapter 6: The Mysterious Message
The following morning, Harry awoke to find Dobby, dressed in his finest tea cozy standing at the end of his bed.
"G'Morning Dobby. *Yawn*. What brings you here to me? Need some more socks?" said Harry, sitting up and grabbing his glasses.
"Mister Potter! So good to see you alive. I was worried about the fight that was going to happen against you. Mas.Maste.Malfoy put them all under the Imperius spell and directed them to kill you. He cursed them before he was sent to Azkaban and ordered them to attack you on yesterday's date," squeaked Dobby.
"So that attack was planned. It sure did need some more organization then. It was a pretty weak assault," said Harry.
"Mister Potter. I have a message for you. Dumbledore told me to deliver it to you, sir. Dobby not know who from."
"Umm thank you Dobby," said Harry, taking the small box from Dobby.
At this, there was a loud pop and Dobby disappeared, leaving Harry to open the package in silence. Not able to withhold the temptation, Harry ripped open the box and found a letter and a smaller package, wrapped in paper. He decided to open the letter first.
Dear Harry, If you are reading this letter, I am either dead or permanently unable to talk to you. Whatever the cause of this is, it probably relates to my brother. I know this will come as a shock to you but, I have been holding this secret from you, and your father, James, the whole time. My brother is Lord Voldemort. There is no 'Tom Riddle' or any of that fairy tale. His real name is Tom Black. He changed it to deny relation to me, his brother who didn't dislike muggles and mudbloods. Because of his ways, I have denied relation to him as well. I wish you luck when you ultimately square off to fight him. I am sorry that I have failed you in your conquest to defeat him.
Sincerely,
Sirius Black P.S. The package contains your father's dragon skin wand. It is extremely powerful and is very rare. You may need it since yours and Voldemort's wands cancel each other out.
After reading the letter, Harry picked up the wrapped wand and began to take the paper off it. The wand felt extremely light, yet Harry could feel the immense power and control flowing through it. Harry began flicking it around and decided to go down to the common room to test it out. As he walked into the common room, he found Hermione sitting in a chair near the fireplace.
"Hermione. Why are you down her this early. It's only five o'clock."
"Ohh, I'm just working out some last minute corrections to my potions essay. Whose wand is that that you have in your hand? It doesn't look like yours."
"It's not. It was my father's old wand. Made of dragon skin. Extremely powerful and extremely rare. It was sent to me in a package from Sirius. He told me that Voldemort is, that Voldemort is his brother and that all that Tom Riddle stuff is just a cover-up."
"Well, that certainly is interesting. So did you come down here to try out your wand?"
"Yup. Let's try it out with a duel."
"Ok. As you wish. This will also be good practice for DA."
The two of them both began to duel, first pulling out their wands and bowing to each other and then by taking a few steps back and then twirling around, ready to cast. Hermione cast first, sending a jelly legs curse flying towards Harry. Harry, being ever vigilant blocked it and sent a stunning spell flying past Hermione's wand hand. The stunning spell however turned around and hit Hermione in the back, knocking her unconscious.
"Whoa! That's what I call good control. I can make my spells turn around in mid-air. I think I am going to enjoy using this wand," said Harry as he revived Hermione.