Hi…my name is Haile Potter, but I am almost positive you already knew that. I'm newly fifteen. I know fifteen years old sounds young…but I've already escaped death countless times, fallen in love, lost several people I love and care about, and oh, I also happen to be a witch.
The escaping death part just comes with the job of being Haile Potter. For one thing, I'm no ordinary witch, even if there is such a thing. I'm the Girl Who Lived, who escaped Voldemort…more than once now. I'm famous.
And yes, I've been in love. Cedric Diggory, I'm convinced, was my soul mate. I was only fourteen when I knew him, and that might make me naïve about love. I can only try to explain what I felt for him…and love is what I come up with. A couple months ago, Voldemort murdered him, tearing my heart into pieces.
The other people I lost include my parents, whom Voldemort also killed. I am filled with such remorse and grief that I could simply die. But I won't…because all three of these special people want me to go on. And I will.
However, I know deep down time heals all wounds, and I'm prepared to move on with my life with a lighter heart. Crying hasn't helping me…so I've stopped crying. Sometimes it's hard though…like when I wake up in the middle of the night from a nightmare.
Anyway, this story begins in the living room of the Dursleys' house. This summer had been one of the worst thus far. The only communication I had with the wizarding world was from Sirius, Ron, and Hermione, telling me not to worry, and I would be able to come soon. They weren't allowed to tell me anything, and I was infuriated.
I was sitting behind the couch, facing the door. Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, my aunt and uncle, were sitting on the couch, watching the news, while I silently listened.
I did this every day, to see if I could scrounge any information about the wizarding world that would somehow make it onto the Muggle news. So far, there had been nothing.
After I decided there was nothing, again, I slipped quietly out of the room. I also slipped out of the house, and walked down the street by myself.
I came to a park, and sat down on the swings. I felt so lonely. Ron and Hermione were together…with Sirius, I presumed, by their letters, and I was stuck here all alone. It just wasn't fair.
I sat there for an immeasurable amount of time, as the sky grew dark. Suddenly, my swing was pushed suddenly forward and taken by surprise, I fell off, landing face first on the ground.
Dudley guffawed loudly behind me. "You didn't even hear me!" he bellowed.
"Oh, you're good," I muttered, pulling myself up from the mulch. "Where are you coming home from?"
"Hanging out with my friends," he answered shortly. "Not like it's any of your business."
"You think you're so cool," I sneered. "You beat up little kids, and steal from the grocery store, and suddenly you're their leader. It's pathetic. You're just a coward."
Dudley glared at me.
We started walking home, and Dudley was still bothered. He finally spoke. "You're not so brave yourself. Especially at night."
"What are you talking about?"
"I hear you scream in your sleep. You shriek every night. 'Cedric, Cedric! Don't kill Cedric!' Who's Cedric, your boyfriend?"
My throat tightened. "What?" I whispered.
"Oh…did you love him?" Dudley asked, mocking concern.
I stopped walking, and I pulled out my wand. "Stop."
Dudley looked at me incredulously. "Put it away, or I'll tell Dad."
Then, darkness came. Cold, cold air filled the street, making me shiver.
"What are you doing?" Dudley asked frightened. "Make it go away!"
"Shut up!" I told him. "I don't know what this is."
We couldn't see anything around us, and then, I recognized the cold fear. There was no way dementors could be in Privet Drive…could they? My body shivered. Oh yes, they could. And they were.
Dudley was stammering stupidly, unaware. He thought I was causing this madness. Well, I could explain later. Right now, I had to fight off the dementors. How many were there? I hadn't performed a Patronus in months…
"Lumos," I said, lighting my wand. I saw a large waddling figure I recognized as my cousin running…straight for a dementor. "DUDLEY!" I screamed. "COME BACK!" Dudley was knocked down.
My eyes blurred as a towering dark figure stupid over me. It was hooded. But I knew what it was. I tried to conjure the happiest memory possible…being with Cedric…and then I shouted, "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"
The stag appeared in the darkness of the night, and headed straight for the dementor. The dementor disappeared. The stag headed for the others, which disappeared at once. I was lucky I had performed such a strong one. I was sweating with relief.
"Dudley!" I shouted. I ran towards the direction where I saw him come. The night sky came into view again, and it was dark, but the houses on the street were visible again. I sighed again with relief.
Dudley wasn't making any noises, but shaking uncontrollably on the ground. He looked as though he was trying to speak, but no words came out.
Suddenly, I heard footsteps. I looked up, trying to put my wand away in case it was a neighbor.
It was. Mrs. Figg. "I can explain," I started, turning white.
"No need, dear girl! I know who's to blame. Bloody Mundungus Fletcher, that's who!"
"Who?" I asked, very, very confused.
"He left! What a coward! Oh, I could just ring his neck. Well, come along, we haven't much time. Dementors on Privet Drive, absurd!"
I stared at her, my jaw dropped. "You…you know of dementors?"
"I'm a Squib," she explained, rolling her eyes. "I don't have any powers though my parents were both wizards. Anyway, Fletcher was supposed to be watching you but he's gone and left you to defend dementors alone!"
"I can't believe you…you know…I just thought you were…a…" I couldn't form words. "Are all my neighbors wizards?"
"No, just me," she said, getting annoyed. "Yeesh."
I slapped Dudley's face to wake him up out of his reverie. He reluctantly got to his feet. The dementor hadn't done too much damage on him—just fright.
"So, how much trouble am I in?" I asked Mrs. Figg once we got Dudley moving sluggishly towards the house.
"Oh, my dear, you have no idea. The Ministry will already have known…Dumbledore must be informed at once."
"But it was self-defense!" I cried. "They'll have to understand. Dementors on Privet Drive!"
Mrs. Figg started to answer when the assumed Mundungus Fletcher Apparated in front of us. "Hey. How's it goin'? Oh, my pewter cauldrons, Haile Potter! Baby, you're the best lookin' babe I seen in a while. I mean, I been watchin' you from afar, but up close…" He whistled.
I curled my upper lip in disgust, while Mrs. Figg shook with rage.
"Look at you all hot and bothered. Listen, babe, I got this shack out in the country full of butterbeer and whiskey, and if you ever wanted to visit…"
"MUNDUNGUS FLETCHER!" Mrs. Figg suddenly exploded. "I'm going to kill you!"
"Why so angry, Figgy? You too old for me."
"DEMENTORS! HERE! Haile had to fight them off herself because YOU weren't here! Now, go tell Dumbledore yourself, you idiot fool! You coward! Stealing cauldrons again I bet, illegally!"
"It was a good business opportunity. Listen, Haile-y baby, I really didn't mean for anythin' like that to happen. Blimey. Well, honey, you must need some comfortin'. Can I—"
"STAY AWAY FROM ME!" I said, leaping backwards. All this time, Dudley had been standing next to me, half-conscious but still standing. He was drooling.
Mundungus Fletcher shrugged. "You'll come around sooner or later. You and me, baby. You and me." Then he vanished.
"Ew," I said, shaking my head. "So I've been followed?"
"Of course," Mrs. Figg said, walking Dudley and I to the door of my uncle's house. "Are you mad? Now, get inside and stay there."
I wanted to talk to her more, but I followed her instructions. I would probably be talking to Dumbledore myself soon enough.
We went inside. "He's home!" Petunia shouted to Uncle Vernon. She came to greet her son, and screamed as Dudley collapsed on the floor.
"WHAT DID YOU DO?" Petunia shrieked, running to his side.
"Give me a minute to explain!" I cried as Uncle Vernon came stomping into the room.
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?" Vernon shouted. "WHAT DID YOU DO?"
"NOTHING!" I screamed back. "There were dementors! On Privet Drive! They've spooked him a bit, but he'll be—"
An owl came swooping into the room. My uncle started to yell, but I wasn't listening. I was reading the letter it dropped into my hands.
Dear Ms. Potter,
We have received intelligence that you performed the Patronus Charm this evening precisely twenty minutes ago, in the presence of a Muggle and in a Muggle area. This will result in your expulsion from Hogwarts School and a destroying of your wand. You must attend a disciplinary hearing at the Ministry of Magic at nine o'clock in the morning on August 12th.
Yours sincerely,
The Improper Use of Magic Office
My heart sank. No. No. This couldn't be happening. I couldn't be expelled. Destroying of my wand? NO.
What should I do? Make a run for it? Stay here and have my wand destroyed? My head was spinning, my aunt and uncle were yelling…
Another owl. I opened it eagerly.
Haile—
Dumbledore just arrived at the Ministry and is trying to sort it out. DO NOT LEAVE YOUR AUNT AND UNCLE'S HOUSE OR DO ANY MORE MAGIC.
-Arthur
Dumbledore was trying to sort it out? Could he? I prayed he could. I HAD to go back to Hogwarts. I HAD to.
Dudley was trying to explain to his parents what happened. "It was cold…"
"It was the dementors," I explained again patiently, trying to keep a cool head.
"They guard the wizard prison, Azkaban," Petunia said, shocking us all.
"These things exist?" Vernon asked eventually after the shocked silence. Petunia nodded.
Another owl flew in.
"Enough bloody owls!" Vernon yelled.
The letter was from the Ministry, saying they weren't going to destroy my wand, but I still had a hearing to decide my expulsion from Hogwarts.
"So what happened?" Vernon asked me. He was a little calmer.
"You're gonna listen?" I asked incredulously. Dudley nodded, so his parents did too. I explained very easily to them the story, and what I did. They seemed to believe me, because Dudley didn't deny it. He was coming to now, recovering.
When I was finished, another owl came swooping in. Vernon exploded again. "NO MORE OWLS, I FORBID IT! GOD DAMN THINGS ARE EVERYWHERE!"
"I can't help it!" I cried, opening the letter. It was from Sirius. It read, Arthur just told us what happened. Do not leave the house, H. You promised me in our last letter to be good. I am sure I will see you soon.
That's it? I was irked. Furious. I wasn't getting any answers! But I was supposed to stay put!
Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia weren't satisfied with the regale of the nights' activities. "Why are they here?" Petunia asked me indignantly.
"I don't know!" I said, frustrated. "But I have an idea." I didn't want to go into depth, and Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia were done hearing about the wizarding world, I could just tell.
Dudley was recovering, so I slipped off to my room with Hedwig. I wrote three letters—Sirius, Ron, and Hermione—and shipped Hedwig off with them. I was fuming. I wanted answers!
I went to bed that night feeling restless and unsatisfied. I woke up the same way. I spent the next few days alone, as the Dursleys didn't want anything to do with me.
On the fourth day of being alone, Uncle Vernon made contact with me. "We are going out. You are to stay in your bedroom. You are not to touch anything. Goodbye."
I rolled my eyes and lay back on my bed. "This is lame," I breathed. Ten minutes later, I was still laying on the bed, staring at the patterns in the ceiling. Then, my doorknob jigged.
I sat straight up, fear coursing through every vein in my body. "Who's there?" I called nervously.
The door swung open. I gasped.
"Hi, girlie."
"MOODY?" I squealed, taken aback. It was Mad-Eye Moody! The one I never met, because Barty Crouch had been using a Polyjuice Potion to disguise himself as Moody.
"Quiet down, girlie. So. We never really did meet. Alastor Moody, my pleasure," he said, as I hopped off the bed to shake his hand. "Hmph."
"What?" I asked, taken aback by his gruff stare. It was strange meeting someone I thought I had known for a whole year.
"You're just as beautiful as they say. I was hoping you'd be some sort of a dud so I could rub it Mundungus's face."
I frowned. "Sorry to disappoint?" Then I looked down the hall to see a large crowd of people in the kitchen. "Who are you all?" I asked, and then recognized Lupin.
"Professor Lupin!" I cried running over to him. "Why are you here?"
"We're taking you away," he told me, grinning, grasping my hand in a firm handshake. He looked a lot older than he was, pale with gray hair. His robes were even shabbier. Besides that, his smile was warm and his eyes alive.
A young witch who was rather intriguing looking with bright pink hair dragged me into a big embrace. "HI! I'm Tonks."
"Hi," I said, my cheek jammed into her robes. "Haile Potter."
Mad-Eye rolled his eyes. "Tonks, can't you give the poor girl space? Now, Haile, we'll leave here as soon as we get the signal."
"All of us? Won't we be noticed?" I cocked an eyebrow.
"I'll get to that," Moody grumbled. "Okay, now. Let's get to know everyone here. You know Lupin…Nymphadora Tonks…oh shut up…Kingsley Shacklebolt… Doge…Diggle… Vance… Podmore…Jones."
"A lot of people were eager to come retrieve you," Tonks told me graciously.
"Thanks," I said to everyone, feeling a little brighter. Finally! Some attention. Some action. Some adventure. I was more than ready. I had been cooped up in this house for too long.
"We're going to fly…to answer your question," Moody told me, adjusting his weird eye. "But you better get yourself packed, we've only got about ten minutes."
I nodded. Lupin accompanied me up the stairs to pack. "That Tonks is really something," I told him, giggling. "Pink hair!"
"She's a Metamorphmagus," Lupin explained. "She can change her appearance at will. She's a funny girl." His face expression was weird. Almost…affectionate?
"Oh…really?" I asked, grinning slyly. "Is that code for like, 'I'm in love with her?'"
He shot a surprised glance at me. "What—what did you just say?"
"Nothing," I said, shrugging, trying to look innocent. But I was pretty sure I knew the truth.
"Hmm."
"How's Sirius?" I asked casually, pulling my trunk out of the closet. I tried to sound nonchalant.
"He's fine," Lupin said, eyeing me. "He's just worried about you…that's all."
I nodded, swallowing. I sat on the bed, wiggling my foot. Lupin raised his wand and had everything on the floor swept into the trunk at once.
"Oh!" I said, smiling. "Thanks a lot!" I got up and started lugging my trunk downstairs, feeling a lot brighter.
"Now, I've written a letter explaining everything to your aunt and uncle," Moody told me when I arrived in the kitchen. "Oh, and someone get her trunk for her, please. Anyway, let me put a Disillusionment Charm on you." He tapped my head with his wand before I could protest.
A moment later, after a strange sensation, I looked down, surprised that my body was gone, but it was blending in with my surroundings. "This is weird," I complained. Moody rolled his eyes.
Moody led all of us out the front door, muttering instructions to me about the formation and what to do if this happens, or if this doesn't happen…. I gulped.
A strong hand was placed on my shoulder. "Don't worry the girl," Kingsley Shacklebolt said in a deep calming voice. "We will all be fine." I liked him at once, his calm demeanor and positive outlook.
Red sparks shot into the sky.
"Mount your brooms! That's the first signal," Lupin told us.
Everyone mounted the brooms, awaiting the second signal, whatever it was.
Then, green sparks shot up seconds later.
"GO!" Moody yelled, as we all kicked off into the night.
How good it felt to be on my Firebolt again! I grinned despite myself, feeling the wind sweep my hair behind me and my clothes rippling with the pressure of the air.
We flew up very high. I wanted to just speed up and fly away from this place, but I had to stick with the group, and I knew it. I followed Tonks, who was in front of me, closely.
We altered our course every so often, changing directions. I wish I had brought a jacket. It was cold. But despite the chilliness, I was ecstatic. All of the wizards were flying around me in a circle, rotating positions. I almost laughed. I wanted them to know that I didn't have to be protected so intricately. I had escaped death numerous times already. I was beginning to think I was invincible.
Whoa there, let's not get too cocky, I reminded myself.
"Almost there!" Moody called after an hour or so. "Time to start the descent!"
"Follow me!" Tonks cried, her voice barely reaching my ears with the fierce wind.
Tonks dived. I followed.
Buildings, streetlights, and roads came into view as we descended lower into the neighborhood. I dismounted a few feet away from Tonks, and right next to Emmeline Vance.
I kept my mouth shut, though I had a million questions. Everyone else was dead silent. Moody clicked out the streetlamps with the Put-Outer he must've borrowed from Dumbledore.
Lupin shoved a piece of paper in my hand. "Read it and memorize it, quickly though." I looked down at the crumpled piece of paper in my hand.
"What's the Order of the Phoenix?" I asked. Several hisses to be quiet took me aback. "Sorry."
"Now think about what you memorized and look at the houses," Lupin told me in a whisper.
I looked up at the buildings. I looked from number eleven…to number thirteen? I started to ask where number twelve was, but then a sudden shudder shut me up. From between eleven and thirteen, a building pushed the two apart and formed a number twelve. I stared in shock.
I followed the rest of the wizards up the stairs. Lupin tapped the door once, and it swung open with a creek. I followed them inside, with just two wizards behind me bringing up the rear.
It was a grand old house. One that you could tell had been fabulous when it was young, but had rusted up a bit. I loved it anyway. But who lived here? And what was—is—the Order of the Phoenix? What the hell was happening?
Moody rid of my Disillusionment Charm. "Be quiet, girl," he grumbled. "And go into the light a bit."
I stepped forward, and came face to face with Mrs. Weasley. She saw me and let out a little sob. She pulled me into a huge embrace. "You're looking absolutely beautiful. Oh my. But much too thin." Mrs. Weasley had lost a lot of weight herself, and was looking pale. I doubt it was because of Weight Watchers. She was worried.
"Go upstairs, dear. There's a meeting downstairs for members of the Order. Ron and Hermione are upstairs. Go find them, I'll see you in a bit."
She hurried off into the dining room with the rest of the wizards that brought me here. I wanted to go to the meeting. Sirius was probably in there. I obeyed her however, and climbed the creaky old staircase.
I walked down the hall until I heard familiar voices coming from a room at the end. I opened the door, and I picked the right one.
Inside were my best friends. Thank God.
