DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter, the books, the movies, or anything else related to Harry Potter, the wizarding world, etc.
Author's note: This is my first fanfiction so I'd like some words of wisdom as well as (maybe, hopefully?) some reviews that encourage my work. Well, that is, if I get reviews. I'd like to thank a friend of mine for acting as my editor, under the name of claire-elise17 on fanfiction. With her, I can throw out good, detailed chapters to my readers.
Year One: Prologue
A man in a dark green cloak ran across the field of dead grass in a hurry, heading to a large mansion on the top of the hill. He held a lantern high in the air, to guide himself through the dark misty night, for the moon was barely a quarter in size. The man opened the front door, pausing as it creaked slightly, and entered the large building slowly.
Directly after he took the first step into the building, a voice boomed out of nowhere.
"YOU HAVE NO BUSINESS HERE!" A cruel and cold voice shouted out.
The man winced at the loud noise before opening his mouth to reply.
"I- I am b-back, m- my lord," he stuttered, "the b- boy has delivered the message."
"Oh?" The voice called out, echoing through the house, "Is that so? Come to me."
Under the cloak, the man's shaky mouth suddenly turned into a small crooked smile and he walked to the wall opposite the entrance. He took a black colored piece of snake skin off the wall, uncovering a portrait. Within the framework was a bald man with devil red eyes.
"My lord… I am at your service." The man sounded more confident now and his head rose from the bow.
"You have proven yourself worthy, Lucius. I have things for you to do. You shall do it as if I were alive."
"Yes, my lord. What is it… you wish for me to do?"
Lucius was uncertain that he would be able to complete the tasks assigned to him. He grimaced as he thought of the punishment that would wait for him had he failed a task and had the Dark Lord been alive. He thanked the fact that the Dark Lord could no longer torture him with the Cruciatus Curse, as the dead were not able to wield a wand, though he believed there would be other methods of torture, even while his master was dead. He would make sure of it.
"My lord?" Time had passed quickly and it was still silent. Lucius wondered if the Dark Lord was considering whether to trust him or not.
"Have you heard about the Centaurs' prophecy?"
"I'm afraid not, my lord."
"Find out what they predict this alignment."
"My… Lord?" Lucius was confused. The Dark Lord had never mentioned anything of centaurs in his life, as he believed they were low class and of no value. Worse than blood traitors, half breeds.
"Do what I say. There will be a centaur that is going to make a prophecy this year. Find out what this prophecy is, and come to me immediately afterwards."
"Yes… My lord."
"Kill the ones in Azkaban."
"Huh?" the man had forgotten his manners towards his master out of shock and just stared at the portrait, deciphering what he had just heard, "You want the death eaters in Azkaban to die?"
Voldemort glared at Lucius with a piercing look before answering.
"They would have no more respect of me after my death. They know my secret because of that Potter. It shall be better if they die rather than leak my secrets to those who wish to erase the memory of the great Dark Lord from existence. I want for the miserable blood traitors, half-bloods, and mud-bloods to tremble at the thought of Lord Voldemort, even while I'm dead." The dark wizard spoke coolly. He looked at the trembling human and spoke bitterly.
"Take whoever you wish, Lucius, but make sure they are absolutely loyal. It would do you no good to complete what I have in store for you alone anyway." He hissed.
Lucius's eyes brightened with relief at these words and stuttered his thanks.
"Don't thank me, you insolent fool. Any betrayals will be held against you and your family. Don't believe for a minute that I've forgotten about you and your failures… along with that son of yours, Draco."
At the mention of his filthy son, Malfoy's eyes darkened again. It was because of Draco and Narcissa that Harry Potter remained alive and the Dark Lord was dead, only able to talk to him through his spirit.
"Be gone, Lucius. Do not come back here until you have heard the prophecy or completed the attack. I suspect to hear of the deaths of the betrayers within a month. Do you understand me? The prophecy will be harder to learn of, for it will be guarded beyond reason."
"Yes… M- my lord. May I have the honor of being informed of what my punishment might be if I shall f- fail…?"
Lucius wanted to know how much of a threat the Dark Lord was when dead. It couldn't be worse than the Cruciatus Curse, his master's old favorite back in the day. However, he was a cautious man, and wanted to know what he was getting into. Not that he had a way of escaping his fate to be at his dead master's allegiance.
Voldemort's mouth turned into an evil, wide grin and muttered and incantation.
"Diabolus manus."
The man felt a pang at his heart and bent over in pain. It felt like a hand was grasping the organ and squeezing it tauntingly. It hurt to inhale, as it felt like a thousand knives were focusing on that one body part. He could feel his breath shortening and he gasped when the curse ended.
"What… was that, my lord?" He asked, panting.
"It means 'Devil's Hand'. I learned the spell after I had perished years ago. It is a spell that can only be used by the dead, through the means of a portrait. If you shall fail, I will punish you severely. Understand?"
"Yes, master."
"Now leave. Complete my tasks."
"Yes, master."
The cloaked figure quickly rose and ran out of the mansion, gripping his wand as if it were the only thing left in the world.
xxxxx
AZKABAN MASSACRE
Ever since the death of He-who-must-not-be-named, there have
been endless attempts at wizards and witches trying to be the next
"Dark Lord". With the help of the Auror department, and its head, the
legendary Harry Potter, otherwise known as the "Boy Who Lived",
these attempts have been stopped before any real damage occurred.
However, last night at about 8:48PM, a swarm of wizards and witches
in dark black cloaks entered the wizarding prison, Azkaban, and killed
many prisoners who were trapped within the cell doors. The reason
behind this attack on helpless beings is still be researched by the Ministry,
but there is no clue as to who may have lead this raid. After an exclusive
interview with the head of the Auror department, Harry Potter, he says,
"It is true that Voldemort has died, and his ways of survival are gone.
It is not true that there aren't going to be people who aim to be the controller
of the magical kingdom. This, I believe, marks the end of the reign of
Voldemort, and the beginning of a new era." When questioned about what
Mr. Potter's involvement will be in this new era, if a rise of a second
Dark Lord would appear, he answers in a simple manner, "I, as head auror,
will act when necessary in order to protect the future of our kind."
A red haired woman put down the issue of the newspaper and sighed.
"In all honesty, Harry, they make you sound like the minister." She rolled her eyes and showed her husband the paper.
"It is the Daily Prophet after all, Gin." He grinned and moved in closer to kiss Ginny on the cheek.
She smiled and returned the favor, before commenting on the subject of the article.
"How are you going to deal with this issue? What if… There turns out to be another You-Know-Who? You've already had to kill one Dark Lord, don't tell me you're the one to defeat this second one."
"First of all, there's a chance that this new wannabe Dark Lord isn't really any threat at all. Secondly, ask yourself this. Why did he attack Azkaban? Why not muggle homes or wizarding homes? All the people that died that day were death eaters. It seems like this person was trying to get revenge, or else he wouldn't have killed people that had no wand, no defense."
"But Azkaban has such a high security. How in the world would someone be able to get in, with the guards and everything?"
"Ginny, the dementors are gone, remember? You can get in much easier nowadays."
"I guess… I just have a bad feeling about this…"
"Don't worry, Ginny, I'll be fine."
The woman looked at her husband, and reached up trace the lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead.
"Just be careful, okay, Harry?" She whispered softly before locking her lips with his.
xxxxx
"Good morning Dad. Where's Mum?"
A group of three kids ran down the stairs smelling their breakfast meal. A brown haired boy, the oldest, spoke first.
"Who cooked this?" He asked eyeing the sausages and eggs on his plate warily.
"It looks like Grandmum's cooking!" The youngest cried out, her long red hair bouncing up and down as she hurried to the table.
Harry smiled at his three children before answering James's question.
"Lily's right, James. It's your Grandmum Molly's cooking. She's with your mum outside, if you want to see her."
"Yeah!" Lily scurried out the door, quickly followed by James. The middle aged one was left in the room with his father.
"Dad, did I get my letter yet?" He asked slowly.
"Let me see. I remember seeing a envelope that said 'To Mr. Albus Severus Potter' but… I told Ginny it was nothing and…"
"Dad! You didn't!" Albus looked at his father with disbelief and shock.
"I'm just playing with you, Son," Harry laughed before handing over a beige colored letter, "You better tell your brother and sister about this."
He gestured towards the door, and Albus skipped out, grinning. Harry smiled at his second son, who had just turned eleven years old. Soon to be attending Hogwarts, he had been busy fretting about whether or not he'd get into Gryffindor like his parents.
"Poor kid," he told Ginny when he had first heard his son's fear, "afraid that he'll get into Slytherin and disrespect what I did. I'd thank my lucky stars if he got into Slytherin because that just might help take away the damn house rivalries."
"Language, Harry," She had replied, "Albus is just scared. So was I in my first year. You never felt that way because you were too worried you weren't going to get sorted rather than scared about getting into a foul house."
"You can't blame me, Gin. I mean, come on, you've met Dudley. He was evil back then and I didn't even fully believe I was a wizard! I had a perfectly reasonable reason to be worried."
His wife merely giggled and kissed him on his cheek. He rolled his eyes and went on with business.
Albus was flying around with his siblings on their brooms, top of the line, of course, with no thought about the sorting ceremony. Harry couldn't help but allow the corners of his lips to curl upward, as he enjoyed his son's carefree movement. His joy disappeared as he saw a silver patronus in the form of a hare leap towards him.
The patronus spoke in a light but grave voice. Harry's eyes darkened as he heard what was going on. Pulling out his wand, he motioned to Ginny.
"Where are you going?" She asked cautiously.
"There has been an attack," Harry said, grim-faced, "Luna just informed me."
"Where…?"
"Diagon Alley."
2/9/2009 Author's Note: Since I've just posted this, I might be changing some things. Nothing major, but little details or errors in the story. Those who read it before probably won't miss anything. Chapter one will be up this week.