by FIRE
DISCLAIMER: Any characters whose names you recognise from the Harry Potter books are the property of JK Rowling. Any characters that are not familiar are characters original to this story. The plot of this story is roughly based upon an amalgamation of the plots of the films King Arthur and Troy, however the ending will be different to both these films so as not to give the whole story away (it's even got a bit of a Star Wars feel to it in some places).
Author's Note: This is a re-write of the story I wrote a few months ago. I had a lot of reviews telling me that it was good but could be a lot better, so after HBP came out, I realised that it wouldn't be too hard to update to fit with new canon (which I've done). I've worked hard to make this story better by fleshing it out a little bit more, so I'd really like to hear what you all think, especially those of you who read the original. I'll try and update once a week, so you're not waiting too long, anyone who enjoys it. Thanks to Bill my beta for improving this chapter loads.
Prologue
Four years after the death of Tom Riddle, the self-styled Lord Voldemort, Harry Potter was probably the most hated wizard in Great Britain. For two years, a war that he had started against the British wizarding government had raged, killing many.
Harry Potter had been the hero of two wars. Known as the Boy-Who-Lived, he remained the only known person to have survived the Avada Kedavra killing curse. He had defeated Voldemort as a baby, delaying the Dark Lord's rise to power by over thirteen years, and then, at the age of almost eighteen, had completed his destiny by defeating his nemesis in the battle between good and evil. Harry Potter had finally achieved peace for his world.
But it was not to be.
Peacetime did not even last for two years. Five months after Harry Potter defeated Voldemort, a relatively unknown wizard named Alfred Riverstein was appointed as the new Minister for Magic, as part of a 'new Ministry' for the new peace. The first six weeks of his reign were peaceful, but then tragedy struck. Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody died. He had taken over many of Dumbledore's posts, following the old man's death in 1997. In fact, the only place where Moody did not follow in his friend's footsteps was Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry itself.
As he was fairly young in wizarding terms, Moody's death came as something of a shock. Some say he died peacefully in his sleep, others believed in foul play. Either way, the Order of the Phoenix and the Wizengamot were left leaderless, and the International Confederation lost its voice in Britain. The Wizengamot needed a new leader, and Alfred Riverstein was voted in, giving him both top positions.
Not long after, the homes of prominent purebloods began to be attacked by unknown assailants.
Calls for strong measures to counter the attacks rapidly built, in number and in urgency. Eventually, after public hysteria had reached a state of near-panic, a number of muggleborns were convicted of the attacks and thrown into prison. The attacks continued, with the Daily Prophet reporting that muggleborns were organising into anti-pureblood terrorist cells. More muggleborns were arrested, convicted and imprisoned. The attacks on purebloods continued, and centuries-old residences collapsed in flames across Britain.
Eventually, Alfred Riverstein was given unlimited powers, for the duration of the emergency. As part of his new powers, Riverstein organized special courts to deal with terrorism. Everything about them was covered under a new secrecy statute, for reasons of 'Wizarding security'. Accused terrorists disappeared into the courts and never emerged, their fates unknown, other than that they had been convicted of anti-wizarding activities. As they were almost all muggleborns, and hence 'dangerous', few people cared what happened to them, while many applauded the Ministry for taking strong actions.
Harry Potter, now nearing his nineteenth birthday, did not believe a word of what the Ministry was saying. He contacted the old members of the Order of the Phoenix and organised a meeting at their old headquarters, Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place. They started attempts to counter the official story, but they were swimming against the tide. The Daily Prophet was firmly on the side of the Ministry, and the great majority of British witches and wizards—as always—followed wherever the Prophet led. Many of its members worked for the Ministry, and like many magical folk they too were slowly brainwashed by the slick speeches of Alfred Riverstein. A new tragedy struck the order; The Burrow, home of the respected Weasley family was reduced to ashes; and Harry finally lost the Weasleys to the Ministry.
Over the following year, wizarding Britain slid further into dictatorship. With the proclaimed muggleborn threat as an excuse, more and more rights and liberties were removed from ordinary witches and wizards, and it became very dangerous to be muggleborn. Wizarding society, never very progressive, regressed to a medieval state, with muggleborns, just like werewolves, stripped of all rights. Purebloods could, and did, do whatever they wished to muggleborns without fear of punishment.
In light of the new developments, Harry Potter saw fit to take new action. The nineteen-year-old hero gathered what support he could, mainly muggleborns, and formed a new order, known as the Brothers of Freedom. Within this movement was an elite group of warriors called the Free Knights. Led personally by Harry Potter, the Free Knights were old members of Dumbledore's Army at Hogwarts, the Order of the Phoenix, ex-aurors and Hogwarts teachers.
A new war had begun.
There had not been two years of peace and the wizarding world was at war once again. But this time the war was started by Harry Potter. To most he was no longer the hero but the villain, yet he always maintained that he fought not for glory or honour, but for what was right.
In September of 2002, Harry Potter was twenty-two years old, and wearied by two years and three months of warfare.
