Welcome readers, new and old! Now, I'm sure that some of you are asking, "old? But this is the first chapter, what's she going on about?" Well, you see, this story is a revised edition of my first shot at Harry Potter fiction, Harry Potter and the Song of Deception. It was something that I sort of stumbled through, and every time I reread it, I was immensely dissatisfied. So, it became clear that there was only one thing to do; revamp it entirely. And that is precisely what I am doing now. Many things have changed from that story to this, for instance, this one will be set in 6th year, and I will try my best to keep up with plot canons set down in J.K. Rowling's OotP. I am also going to try my best to model the "style" of this after her own writing... one key example being that this will be following Harry... not an OC! (Though, there will be plenty of OCs in this... some old favorites will return. ;o)
But, enough of my blather... you came here to read the story, not listen to me.
And so, here it is, long overdue...
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Harry Potter and the Forgotten Songs
By Hollie
The rain that had threatened all day had just begun to fall. It splattered down on the perfectly tended lawns of the identical houses of Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey. All of the windows of all of the houses had been closed up tightly after the first drop fell; all save for one. On the second floor of number 4, one window had been thrown open, and the pale orange lamplight illuminated the outline of a boy leaning against the window frame. If anyone had passed by, they would have found it peculiar to see a black haired boy leaning outside as the rain steadily increased. In this case, however, this was no normal boy.
Harry Potter had lived at number 4, Privet Drive with its owners, the Dursleys, ever since his parents had been murdered when he was only a year old. His mother's sister and her husband had been less than thrilled at having him literally left on their doorstep, and Harry had existed in misery in the cupboard under the staircase. That is, until, the summer of his eleventh birthday, when he began receiving mysterious letters the Dursleys refused to allow him to read. Finally, a letter was delivered to him personally by a giant of a man called Hagrid. The letter explained to him why he had always felt so out of place among the Dursleys; Harry was a wizard.
That September, he left Privet Drive and started his first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He made friends (and enemies) with children his own age; yet even around his own kind, he discovered that he was still very different. Harry found out that the very same night his parents had been killed, their murderer had turned his wand on Harry. But the death-curse that Lord Voldemort, the most powerful dark wizard, had cast upon the infant Harry had rebounded upon him, tearing him from his body and leaving Harry with only a lightning bolt shaped scar upon his forehead.
That year, Harry had come face to face with the Dark Lord, and managed to foil his plot to return to bodily form. Since, they had encountered each other three more times, and the final meeting Harry had only escaped because Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts school and the only wizard Voldemort had ever feared, had shown up in the nick of time. But that so-called "victory" had come at a great cost, for Harry had lost the closest thing he'd ever had to a father, his godfather Sirius Black.
But that was not a memory Harry liked to relive. He ran his fingers through his unruly black hair, emerald green eyes staring out into the gathering dark. His owl, Hedwig, was due to return any minute, hopefully with letters from his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.
Sighing, Harry retreated back into his room, shaking the water from his hair. Not bothering to change into a dry shirt, he collapsed back onto his bed. He had just about given up waiting for his owl, when suddenly he spotted a faint white spot against the blackening sky. Flying swiftly through his window, Hedwig swooped overhead, dropped him several parcels then landed gracefully on her perch, shaking the wet from her feathers.
Excitedly, Harry tore off the thick envelope of the first letter and pulled out the slightly damp paper inside. He recognized Hermione's neat writing immediately.
Dear Harry,
So sorry for not responding to your last letter sooner, but things have been very... hectic, here. I hope that your summer is going well, and that things aren't too awful with your aunt and uncle. Everyone misses you terribly, and Mrs. Weasely has been working like a fiend to try and get you to stay with us. I don't know how much headway she's made, but I hope it's a lot. Like I said, we all miss you.
I'd love to tell you more about what's been happening here, but as you know, we still have to be careful about what we write in letters. It will be so great to see you again, so that we can talk freely. Don't get me wrong, because you know that you and Ron are my dearest friends, but he is simply driving me crazy. I truly thought that when he was made prefect, he'd buckle down, but that just doesn't seem to be the case. All he wants to do is talk about flying and Quidditch and that manner of thing. I'm looking forward to when he can discuss them with you, instead of me.
I hope that you got our letters on time, we weren't sure if Hedwig would make it back to you on your birthday. I don't know what it's like where you are, but we've been having dreadful weather today. Hopefully Hedwig didn't get too wet.
Harry looked over at his owl, who had finished preening herself and was drinking happily from her bowl.
I'm sorry that I didn't send your present, but it was too big for just Hedwig to carry, and there were no other owls available. I'll get it to you as soon as I can, I promise.
Happy Birthday Harry, I really hope that we see you soon.
Love from,
Hermione
Harry smiled and put Hermione's letter aside, opening the second envelope. This one was written in Ron's untidy hand.
Harry,
Hey mate, happy birthday! 'Mione and I meant to write you sooner, but things have been busier here than you'd believe. Mum has been trying to get you to stay with us, but I dunno if that'll happen. Hope so. It just ain't the same without you around. 'Mione keeps going at me to get started on homework and stuff, she's been hammering all this stuff about how "now that we're prefects we have to keep on top of things" and all that. Honestly, she's driving me ruddy crazy.
Harry laughed, picturing Ron and Hermione inadvertently annoying one another all summer long. It was a very amusing sight, thought he wished he could be there; he missed his friends and the wizarding world.
Other than that, not much has happened. Well, it might've, but you know, no one tells us anything. Fred and George say they've been working on a new version of the ol' extendable ears, that can get through most charms and spells that would prevent hearing, but I think they've hit a snag on the development. Other than that though, I think the joke shop's doing real well; I'm betting that soon it'll be bigger than Zonko's!
Well, I hope your summer hasn't been too bad with those rotten muggles of yours. I know that you don't get to keep up Quidditch and stuff while your there, so I found you a little something that might make your summers a bit more interesting. (Well, it's actually a gift from me, Ginny, Fred and George, we all chipped in.)
Hope we see you soon! Bye-
Ron
Curious, Harry looked around at the two parcels Hedwig had brought him. One turned out to be a rather delicious cake from Mrs. Weasley, complete with a birthday card that sang shrilly whenever he opened it. The second one was a small, square and flat package Harry assumed was the girt Ron had mentioned.
He unwrapped the tough brown paper, finding several more birthday cards in between that and another layer of wrapping paper, this multi colored with pictures of large balloons flying around while miniature wizards and witched popped them with their wands. He watched them, fascinated, for a few moments before carefully removing the paper. When he saw the gift inside, he gasped.
In his lap there sat something that vaguely resembled the screen of a small television. It was about the length of his forearm, and half that for the width. On one side was a group of buttons and knobs and on the other side was a large dial. Harry stared at it curiously, wondering exactly what it was, until he noticed yet another scrap of parchment, folded up with the wrapping paper.
Harry-
It's a Matchascope, it'll let you watch Quidditch games at home. It's not the newest brand on the market, but it works real well. You use the buttons on the right to find different matches and such, and to zoom in and out during games, and the big dial on the left is to focus. It's kind of like those omniocculars we got at the World Cup in 4th year. Have fun mate, we hope you like it.
Ron Ginny
Fred George
Harry couldn't remember a time when he'd been quite so touched. It was clear that it had been an expensive gift, and Harry knew that the Weasleys didn't have money to spare. He set the Matchasope down gently on his mattress, vowing to try it out later, and took a look at the other cards. There was one from Fred and George, that squirted him with something that tasted like butterbeer when he opened it, and a clearly homemade card from Ginny, with the usual message of happy birthday and hope to see you soon. He was pleased (and slightly embarrassed), by the obvious care and time she had put into the card.
Once he had finished opening and reading everything, he set his birthday cards and letters on the table (making sure that Fred and George's was securely closed) and ate a slice of the rather delicious cake, before carefully wrapping that up and storing it under the loose floorboard. Finally, he turned to his Matchascope, itching to have a go.
But before he could, he saw out of the corner of his eye, something else swoop into his room. He groped for his wand, belatedly remembering it was on top of the desk, all the way across the room. The summoning spell was on the tip of his tongue when he turned and saw... an owl, staring up at him with wide brown eyes, clutching a thick envelope that had the clear, familiar Hogwarts seal upon it.
Harry laughed uneasily at his own nerves. Ever since... Well, lately, he'd been unusually jumpy. He didn't even want to try and figure out when it had started, because he knew that it would eventually lead back to...
The owl hooted impatiently, sticking out a leg. Harry leapt over to the dresser on which the bird perched, hastily untying the heavy envelope from the annoyed tawny. As soon as he had unfastened the burden, and given him a drink from Hedwig's bowl (which she was none too pleased about), the owl flew back off into the night.
Harry opened the envelope, and found inside two pieces of parchment. The first was the traditional Hogwart's letter, detailing the time and place (September the first, King's Cross, Platform 9 ¾) on which he should be dropped off for school. The second piece of parchment was his school supplies.
SIXTH-YEAR STUDENTS WILL REQUIRE:
The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 6 by Miranda Goshawk
One Thousand More Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore
Magical Drafts and Potions, Grade 6 by Arsenius Jigger
From Ahylinda to Zybringer: Complex Charms by Marius L. Shaydon
Harry looked through the rest of the list, searching for the required defense against the dark arts book. To his dismay, he saw none, nothing to hint at the character of their new teacher. He did, however, find interesting the title at the very end of his list, handwriting vastly different from the rest of the letter:
Aurors: A Firsthand Account by E. Vance
Harry thought on that one for a moment; Vance... the name sounded familiar. He couldn't place where he heard it before though, and after a moment, gave up trying. He yawned, and wondered when he could go and get his new supplies. He should probably go soon, sometime next week or so, he thought dimly, as the yawning increased. He leaned back against the covers for a moment, just to rest his eyes, and found himself inadvertently drifting off to sleep, dreams filled with mysterious DADA teachers and a book that kept flying round his head...
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Ta-da! That's it, the first installment of who knows how many more of my revised HP fic! See, already I think this is so much better than my first attempt (which began very crappily, I assure you). I am hard at work with my revisions, so I will warn you that the beginning, at least, is going to take me a while to do. I have so much to fix to make this fit in with the new canon (even though there are some details from, say, the 5th book that I realllllllly didn't like.... but I'm working with and around some of those new impediments.... ah, you'll see, eventually.) so this will take me time. Plus, I have school work to do... and believe me, that eats up most of my so-called "free-time."
Anyways, to both new and old readers, I hope you enjoyed! There are so many changes, that this story should hold surprises for both sets of readers!
Always,
~Hollie
