When the door to a small house in Godric's Hollow was blasted down, nobody noticed. Except its inhabitants, of course.
James Potter sat reclined on the couch, lazily making colorful bubbles appear for his son. When each bubble emerged, it grew before morphing into shapes and animals. James smiled as Harry reached for a blue bubble that was shaping itself into a small dog, while Lily Potter indulgingly smiled at the two. She enjoyed the peaceful night with her little family, for these moments had been few and far between since they had been put into hiding. As she watched the child on the floor, she was hit with a blast of sadness and regret, and also guilt. She sometimes felt like she was replacing the child she had lost, though James, Sirius, and Remus had all assured her that she wasn't. They had all mourned the little boy who they had never gotten to know, but they were grateful for the miracle that had been 'Harry'. They had barely adjusted to the loss of their child, when Dumbledore had showed up on their front step with a baby with hair as black as night, and eyes that were such a dark shade of brown, they were nearly black. He had told them the circumstances that the child had arrived by, and they were wary about taking him in but they knew if they didn't the poor boy would go to a muggle orphanage, where he was sure to be misunderstood. And slowly they became a family, they loved the boy; whose name they had legally changed to Harry James Potter; as their own and life went back to normal. Of course they would never forget the child they lost but they couldn't live in the past, because now Harry needed them.
It had taken Sirius and Remus some adjusting; mainly Sirius, but they came around. Sirius grew especially fond of the boy when James named him Godfather of Harry. He had taken to his new role like a duck to water, now he showed up daily at the Potter household to shower his Godson in gifts and affection. Harry loved his godfather, and would pitch a fit if Sirius arrived late. With the evening so calm, the Potters should have guessed something was up.
James shot up off the couch when the door hit the ground with a large bang. He tightened his grip on his wand and moved so Lily, who had just picked up Harry, was behind him. He cautiously moved towards the entrance hallway, where a man in a dark cloak stood.
"Lily! Its him, take Harry and go! I love you, now GO!"
Lily moved behind him and started up the steps. She hesitated at the top before dashing into the Nursery. She sat Harry in his crib and looked into his knowing eyes. She heard the sound of a body hitting the floor and she bent down towards him.
"Mummy and Daddy love you very much, sweetie. Hush now, everything will be alright. Never forget how much we love you."
With those words she placed a kiss in the middle of his forehead. At the same time the door to the Nursery burst open, and she turned to bravely face the evil man who was now standing in the doorway.
"Step aside."
"Please, no. Not Harry. Take me instead!"
Voldemort glowered at the foolish mudblood, who refused to move so he could kill the child who was prophesized to be his downfall.
"No matter, Lord Voldemort is merciful. He has given you the chance to live, but you threw it away. Avada Kedavra!"
"Harry!"
The Dark Lord Dead! Potter Boy pronounced Saviour!
The Dark Lord arrived last night at the Potter residence with the intent of killing the well-known Light supporters. In the fight to protect his wife and son, the young Lord Potter, the head of the Potter family: James Charlus Potter was tragically struck down and the Dark Lord moved on to Potter's wife. Lily Rose Potter nee Evans, a brilliant muggle-born witch, and a up and coming spellcrafter, was also tragically struck down. The Dark Lord's last intended victim, Harry James Potter, was somehow spared. When the Dark Lord tried to kill Potter, it somehow backfired and the Dark Lord vanished. We at the Daily Prophet don't know the exact events that took place last night, but somehow little Harry Potter defeated the darkest wizard since Grindewald.
To see more on The Potters, go to page 5.
To see more on Gellert Grindewald, go to page 7.
Missing! Youngest Potions Master Alive, believed Dead!
Severus Snape, Hogwarts newest Potions Professor, and the youngest ever Potions Master, has disappeared. He was believed to be crafting a more efficient and less expensive version of Wolfsbane. His fellow professors at the school have offered no comment on this event, other then why they believe Snape is dead. On Thursday, they released an account of the day they realized he was missing. The staff and Ministry appointed Aurors have searched diligently for 11 months, to try and locate the missing Professor. Yesterday, Professor Kendricks, the current Defense Against the Dark Arts professor; released his account of the day Snape went missing.
'It was Tuesday, November 17th ,1980, and the day had gone normally until lunch when a large explosion shook the Great Hall. Naturally, all the professors ran down to the dungeons to locate the source of the explosion. When we arrived at the Potions Classroom the door was missing, and there was a melted cauldron sitting on the table, it was leaking something that was eating through the table. There was no body but with a potion like that exploding, we weren't surprised by that. I believe we were all thinking the same thing, that Snape had been killed by the blast and the acidic potion.'
It is with a heavy heart that we at the Prophet announce this report, we hope that the Potions professor may still be found, or for some closure if he perished.
To read more on Hogwarts go to page 10.
To read more on Severus Snape go to page 12.