Warning - This story will get fairly dark, deal with issues like madness, and while I'll try to avoid outright bashing, there are some characters I'm likely to paint in a somewhat negative light. I apologize if this happens to a character you like.
Oh, and I hope no one's to much of a fan of Borgin ^.^
The End began on Harry's first unintentional trip to Nocturne Alley. It was a simple change that altered the course of Harry's future. No dark cursed object or devious hex, but a perfectly ordinary, if poorly maintained, squeaky floorboard. The difference between a clean escape from the disreputable Borgin & Burkes, and a life altering chain of events.
Harry froze in horror as the loud squeak echoed in the silent and quite acoustic shop.
A Snarled "Who's There!" jolted Harry into action. He made a wild dash for freedom, only for the door's deadbolt to lock of it's own accord.
"What little rat have we caught today then?" Came the old man's voice from behind him. A gnarled hand grabbed a hold of his shoulder and spun him around before Harry could react.
"Thought you could pull one over on old Borgin, did you boy! Well I'll teach you why no one steals from me!"
Harry stumbled backward and fell as Borgin shoved him. Absolutely terrified, Harry barely noticed reaching for his own wand and pointing it at Borgin, who had frozen mid spell; his eyes widening as they spotted Harry's scar. "Lumos!" Harry shouted, casting the first spell that came to mind, and his fear putting more power behind it.
Borgin shrieked in pain, dropping his wand as he grabbed his eyes in pain. The old man stumbled backwards, bumping into the display holding the cursed necklace. It fell to the floor with a crash, glass flying everywhere. Another shout of pain came from Borgin, still blinded by Harry's spell, and now bleeding. Finally he fell into the open Cabinet that Harry had hid in earlier, knocking it backwards into more displays as he fell in and the door slammed shut on him.
For a horror filled moment Harry couldn't decide whether he should run or try to help, as one display after another was taken down by the domino effect started by the falling cabinet. His sense of right over wrong won out and Harry got up and rushed over to the fallen cabinet, tripping several times over the clutter and bumping into a few of the still upright displays.
"I'm so sorry! Are you alright sir!" Harry said as he opened the cabinet, only to find it completely empty. Borgin was gone, vanished, but where could he be? Surely Harry would've noticed if the man had made it out of some other entrance in the cabinet, not that he would've had the time to do so. A magic cabinet then? Maybe you were invisible as long as you were inside it? Harry tentatively felt around inside the cabinet, but all he felt were the wooden sides. No, definitely empty. Perhaps it sent him somewhere else? But if the cabinet sent people places, how come it hadn't when Harry was hiding it. No, maybe it wasn't the cabinet. Perhaps Borgin had used accidental magic to teleport, like when Harry had used it to jump onto the school roof?
Well, whatever had happened, Borgin was gone, leaving Harry completely alone in a shop that looked like a stampede had run through it. Harry had no desire to take the blame for this, even if he might have had some hand in causing it. Surely someone would come in at any moment, like Malfoy, or someone from the Ministry. He had used magic outside of school after all. Surely they had noticed and would be coming by any time now to snap his wand and send him back to the Dursleys.
Harry spun around and bolted for the door, not noticing, as he left the shop , the strange bulge in his pocket that hadn't been there before the disaster in Borgin and Burkes. Perhaps, if he had, things might not have gone the way they did. Perhaps he would have gone through his life as a perfectly ordinary wizard. But he didn't, and so came the End.
To Be Continued…
Hey, so thanks for checking out my new story! It's been so long since I wrote anything, I hope you liked it! I was just sitting around doing nothing, when suddenly this idea came to me. It's still in the early stages of writing, so I can't promise another chapter soon, especially as I'm currently taking a summer class so I can finally graduate, but school will be finished by the end of June, so hopefully I can put more work into it then. I'll try to get another chapter up within a week, but don't expect it to be very long.
Ciao XP
Cisp