AND THE DAY OF RECKONING
This is my first Harry Potter fic, so be gentle. Dumbledore say: Man who review is a hankie's tissue. I say: PLEASE REVIEW AND I WILL BE EVER GRATEFUL! Oh, and BTW, this takes place in Harry's seventh year.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all related indicia belong to J. K. Rowling and various publishing companies. However, I DO own at least one thing, and that's Tom Matthews.
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CHAPTER ONE: THE BEGINNING
"I cannot stress enough that if you can avoid it, do NOT go outside!" the news anchor exclaimed. "With this madman, Tom Marvolo Riddle, on the loose, it is too dangerous!" With this, they showed a picture of Lord Voldemort.
"That's him!" Harry burst out. "That's the guy!"
The Dursleys screamed. "A MAD YOU-KNOW-WHAT!" Uncle Vernon exclaimed. "ON THE LOOSE AROUND LONDON! WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!"
Harry rolled his eyes at the Dursleys' sudden panic. He was currently counting down the seconds to his birthday to himself. Five, four, three, two, one, happy birthday to me. He knew the Dursleys would still forget his birthday, and this was confirmed when Aunt Petunia said, "Go outside and get the paper, boy."
So, he went outside to get the paper. He walked to the end of the drive, picked it up, waved to Mrs. Figg, and then knew no more.
When he awoke, he was in some kind of dungeon. In fact, it looked suspiciously like the potions classroom at Hogwarts. Now that he thought of it, it WAS the potions classroom at Hogwarts. He looked around and found himself staring into the greasy face of Professor Snape, his least favorite teacher at Hogwarts. He recoiled, his mind racing. I KNEW it! I knew Snape was a spy! I knew ---
"I am most certainly not a spy," Snape said, interrupting Harry's thoughts. Damn, I forgot he was a whatchamacallit thingy.
"What you so nicely refer to as a 'whatchamacallit thingy' is more commonly known as a Legilimen," Snape said, sneering.
"Right, I forgot," Harry said coldly. "Well, if your not a spy, why am I here?"
"We, meaning the Order, were forced to abduct you from your home," Snape said. "We were forced to bring you to a safer location. You will spend the rest of the summer here."
Harry's heart sank. An entire month at Hogwarts with nothing to do and no one to talk to! He surely wouldn't be allowed outside the grounds to Hogsmeade...
"Oh, stop moaning and groaning, Potter!" Snape snapped (say that one ten times fast). "We brought all of your closest friends here as well, so you couldn't be lured out of Hogwarts too easily."
"Who's here?" Harry asked quickly.
Snape glared at him. "From here on, you are to address me as 'Professor' or 'sir', since you are in school."
"Yes, sir," Harry said, spitting out the sir like a curse word. "Anyway, sir, who's here?"
"Miss Hermione Granger, Master Ronald Weasley, Miss Virginia Weasley, Mr. Arthur Weasley, Mrs. Molly Weasley, Mr. Granger, Mrs. Granger, and Miss Lovegood." Snape sneered as he said Luna's name. "I hope you eventually learn to associate with a better crowd, Potter."
"With all due respect, Professor," Harry said, thinking over my dead body, "You don't. You don't even care about me as a weapon against Voldemort," (Snape flinched at the name) "and you don't give a rat's behind as to who I hang out with."
"I was just giving you a warning, Potter," Snape spat. "Hang around with the daughters of tabloid editors, and you'll find more and more people disbelieving you."
"Well, I really don't care," Harry said firmly. "Sir."
"Whatever you say, Potter," Snape said nastily. "Leave. Now."
"Yes, sir," Harry said, already halfway out the door.
Now that he was out of the dungeon, Harry headed for the Great Hall, where he was bowled over by what seemed to be a couple of blurs, one brown and one red.
"HARRY!" everyone in the room, with the exception of Luna, who was staring into empty space, exclaimed.
Luna looked around wildly. "What?" She spotted Harry. "Oh, hello Harry."
"Hello, Luna, everyone." He looked down, where he could see Hermione and Ginny pinning him down. "Um, guys?" Harry said. "Would ya mind getting off terribly? 'Cause you're crushing me."
They both said, "Oh, sorry," and got off. They returned to their (knocked over) seats at the Gryffindor house table. Harry walked over and took one himself. As he sat down, he looked around. "I wasn't aware that the Great Hall was set up this early in the year."
"Oh, of course," said Mrs. Weasley. "It remains set up all year except during O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s."
"Ah, that explains it," Harry said, realizing something. "Er... Where're all you guys going to stay when everyone arrives?"
"We'll be going to Grimmauld Place, to Sir---" Mr. Weasley cut himself off and looked apprehensively at Harry.
"You can say it," Harry said. "I'm okay now." He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Luna was staring at him in a way that made him very edgy.
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Sorry it's so short, but it's just an introductory chapter. Hopefully, the rest will be longer.