Dumbledore received the owl in his office and nearly fainted. He quickly scribbled a note to Cornelius Fudge that said, "Confirm this, Minister. Are you sure?"



"Yes, Headmaster, I am sure." Dumbledore had gotten the note a day after he had written the reply. "Very well," he muttered, and left his office. To get a fortunate boy named Harry Potter.



He knocked on the door. Professor Flitwick opened it, grumpy. "What is - oh, excuse me headmaster, what would you like?"

"May I speak to Harry Potter for a moment?"

Harry Potter started putting his things in to his bag. There was no way Flitwick would have refused the headmaster.



A moment later, Harry was in Dumbledore's office. "Harry," he said kindly, "there's something I must show you." He handed a letter to Harry. Harry read:



Cornelius Fudge

Minister Of Magic



Dear Professor Dumbledore,



I have some remarkable news. A new potion has been discovered. It is known as the Living Ghost Solution, and can transform the dead back to life. However, it only works with the dead who have sacrificed themselves to save the life of another willingly, using the powerful countercharm of love. Since this combination of occurrences has only happened 100 times as far as we know, this can be rarely used. One of the three cases in which happened recently enough for the potion to work is Harry Potter. Please inform him that we will be attempting the revival of Lily Potter on July 30th. I am sure he will be overjoyed at the attempt. An American wizard named William Gates is responsible for this extraordinary achievement. Unfortunately, long-term effects of this potion are not known, due to the fact that this discovery is very recent.



Sincerely,

Cornelius Fudge

Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic



Harry Potter read the letter over again. He looked up, breathless. "Can I keep this, headmaster?"

"No, Harry, but you can keep a duplicate." Dumbledore waved his wand and muttered "Kinkos." Harry Potter took the duplicate letter, and thanked the headmaster. Dumbledore just smiled.



"Ron, Hermione, look at this!" Harry gave the letter to Hermione, who put it on the table. Ron and Hermione read it quickly, and looked up.

"I don't believe it...."

"Is this possible? It might not work, you saw what he wrote."

"It's my only chance to get my mum back, you two. If you had never known your mum, and suddenly you got a chance to see her live again..."

There were tears in every eye.



Harry Potter was just putting on his muggle clothing when the train pulled to a stop. After being let through the barrier, he saw Uncle Vernon. "Move it," he snarled.

"Uncle Vernon? Look at this, please." Harry showed the letter, which was frayed and full of fingerprints. Spellotape was holding the lower left-hand corner on. Uncle Vernon roughly grabbed the letter.

"Why should I take you to this?" he snapped.

"Think about it. If my mother is alive, you won't have to deal with me any more."

"You have a very valid point. I'll take you. Now, we mustn't be late. Move." Vernon Dursley pushed Harry toward the car.



July 30th was a long way away, and the days dragged by. Time certainly doesn't fly when you're waiting, as he realized only three days had passed, not three weeks. Another day. Another day. A letter from Ron. Another day......



July 30th did come around, and Uncle Vernon drove Harry to the place where he was supposed to meet Cornelius Fudge. He pushed his trunk full of all if his belongings out the trunk. It hit the pavement with a thud. Then he drove off.

"I see your uncle seems to be...er...eager to leave you," said a voice behind him. "Come on, Harry, let's go. Cornelius Fudge was standing right behind him, in a muggle outfit. He waited until no one was in sight, then he and Harry apparated to Ministry Headquarters. They walked to a white room. Harry looked in the window. A cauldron was on the table, and a bubbling liquid was inside it.

"In there is your mum's....er...remains," Fudge said, pointing to the room. "We thought it wise to keep that out of sight of the window. Harry shuddered. "William Gates has come here all the way from America to perform this," Fudge continued on. "This is his first time he's done it on a real subject.

"He will be ready to perform the experiment in a few minutes. In the meantime, Harry, I suggest you make yourself as comfortable as possible."

Harry couldn't wait. He kept absentmindedly looking at his watch. Could this really happen? Would his mum really come back? Could the make his dad come back too? Would he actually be leaving the Dursleys? His mind was swimming. A voice cut through his thoughts. "Harry, it's time," Fudge said, and Harry could detect a note of excitement in his voice.

Harry looked through the window. William Gates was taking a spoon, dipping it in to the solution, and pouring it somewhere out of the view. He flashed Harry a smile and stood back.

A skeleton got up off the table. Fudge screamed. William smiled. The skeleton started shrieking "HARRY! HARRY! HARRY!" over and over again. The bones began to disintegrate. Lily's cries of pain were heard through all that. There was a sizzling sound, and the remains of Lily Potter began to disappear at a faster rate, as Lily was screaming in pain. The spinal cord melted in to nothingness, and the bones collapsed on to the floor. As everything but the skull disintegrated, there were horrible screams. The skull finally vanished in a puff of smoke. The screams ceased.

"My master, it is done. Lily Potter is dead, horribly. Harry Potter has been tortured," William Gates said.

Harry Potter, his mind malfunctioning, said, "Dwindlus," with his wand pointing at Gates. He dwindled in to nothingness, screaming. Fudge turned to Harry Potter, dumbfounded, and yelled, "Harry Potter! That was murder!"

"No, that was revenge!" Harry screamed, losing all control. He pointed his wand at Fudge. "Petrificus Totalus!" he said, his voice filled with rage, his mind beyond the capability of rational thought. Fudge fell to the floor, rigid. "Now you all watch it. If you try to revive him...." Harry drew a finger across his neck, slowly.

A brave Ministry worker stepped forward. "You'll go to Azkaban for this!" Harry pointed his wand at him, and yelled, "Full Thunderus!" A boom sounded as the Ministry officer vanished. "Oh, one last thing," Harry said, his voice sadistic, beyond reason.



In London, an office building exploded in a mushroom cloud shaped as if an atom bomb destroyed it. The smoke turned in to words that only magical people could see. "All witches and wizards of England: Beware Harry Potter!" No one noticed a teenager fly off on a broomstick in the chaos, his mind possessed by darkness.



Dumbledore, in his office, saw the words across the sky, as they were displayed across all of England, not just London. Then they vanished. Dumbledore knew what happened. Fudge had agrees to let Dumbledore perform an Alibi Charm on him, so if he was killed, all the witches and wizards would see who it is. Albus Dumbledore knew something had gone wrong with the Living Ghost Solution, and he looked very grave. Harry Potter could withstand Voldemort...he had the countercharm of love it and he would be hard to take down...Harry Potter most certainly could defeat Albus Dumbledore, who had never felt so helpless in his life.



Ron Weasley sighed. Snape had given them an endless amount of work over the holidays. He looked out the window, seeing Fred and George. They had told him they would be blowing something up, but they weren't. They were looking at the sky. Ron looked up too, and fell of his bed. Across the sky, the words were pasted: "All witches and wizards of England: Beware Harry Potter. He grabbed a muggle "telephone," which he had gotten the hang of, and dialed Hermione Granger's number.



Hermione Granger was having a late lunch when the phone rang. Her mother picked it up.

"Hello?"

"May I speak to Hermione, please?" came the faint voice across the line.

Hermione swallowed the piece of sandwich she had in her mouth and grabbed the phone. "Hi."

"Hi, Hermione. Look up, out the window."

"Ron?"

"Yes, it's Ron. Just look up."

Hermione walked to the window and dropped the phone. She picked it up numbly and said, "Do you know what that message means?"

"What? No."

Hermione dragged out a book. "I quote from 'Magical Ministers of the 20th Century.'

'Cornelius Fudge, the current Minister of Magic, had a spell cast on him by Albus Dumbledore during the days of Voldemort. In case a spy or someone else killed him, it would be known to all in a message across the sky. This would alert the entire magical community to that spy.'

"So no one took the spell off," came Ron's voice.

"Why would they? It was useful. Now the entire wizarding world will shun Harry as follower of Voldemort."







The Daily Prophet

JULY 31st

HARRY POTTER ON THE LOOSE!

It is believed that Harry Potter, heralded as one of the greatest wizards of today, blew up Ministry Headquarters yesterday in a spectacular display. Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic, was killed along with Lucius Malfoy, head Hogwarts governor, and Tyrus Methodal, Vice Minister. All of our leadership is in ruins. The Daily Prophet has no idea what happened, but it is assumed that something went horribly wrong with the Living Ghost Solution (See headline May 12th) and it had a horrible effect on young Harry Potter. Our reporter at the scene was killed also. The only living soul who knows is either dead in the wreckage (considered highly unlikely) or is on the loose, and a threat to the entire wizarding community. All witches and wizards are advised to keep a lookout and report Harry Potter, if he is seen, to the proper authorities immediately. All the of the following have been killed: Cornelius Fudge, Tyrus Methodal, Lucius Malfoy, Thayer Perkins, Arthur Weasley, Mafalda Hopkirk. No other people are confirmed dead. It is likely that everyone in the Ministry building has been killed. The producers of the Daily Prophet express their condolences if a loved one has ceased to live.



Molly Weasley dropped the paper and opened the other letter that had come with the paper, knowing what she would see. A death notice. "Fred, George, Ron, Ginny, and Percy, come here."

They appeared one by one, except for the twins. She showed them the article, and they all moped off to do their own thing.

Ron sat in his room, crying. An owl was knocking on his window. It was from Hermione. It was a letter expressing her sympathy for him, and asking him not to get too angry at Harry. He scribbled a letter back, in shaky handwriting, saying "Let's go and find him."



Harry Potter's current target: Professor Dumbledore, the one who gave him that letter. His current destination: Hogwarts. There it was, on a mountaintop ahead. He had already killed the Dursleys, two Ministry officers who had foolishly tried to arrest him, and everyone in that building. It was his third day doing this, and he expected a lot more resistance at Hogwarts, but nothing he couldn't manage. He swooped down off his Firebolt. Silently and stealthily, he moved closer to the school. Standing in front of the doorway was Rubeus Hagrid, Professor McGonagall, Hermione, Ginny, and Ron. What were they doing here? Harry thought. It's the summer!"

He continued on towards the school.

"Harry," Hermione said. "Harry, wait."

Harry turned around and sent a deadly spell her way. Hermione countered it, but it knocked her off her feet.

"Harry, you've got to stop," Ron said. "You are killing! Delving in to the Dark Arts. You have to stop, Harry!"

"Don't you see what you've done?" Hermione said, getting up and wincing.

"Harry, it's Hagrid. Don't yeh understand? Harry, yeh've killed!"

"You've always fought against the Dark Arts, Harry, you're changing sides?"Ginny's voice wavered.

Something was going on in Harry's mind. These were his friends. No they weren't. He didn't have any friends. They had all conspired against him to torture him with his mum. But, they were his...friends. The word held some powerful meaning to him. He raised his wand, aiming for McGonagall, and performed a deadly spell. She was blasted off her feet and fell to the ground, dead.

Hermione said shakily, "Harry, you have saved all of our lives. You're going to kill us now, too? If it weren't for you, He-Who-Must-Be-Named would have gained control of the world with the Sorcerer's Stone! Are you going to throw that all away?"

Ginny ran up to him. Harry numbly pointed his wand at her too. "Harry," Ginny sobbed, crying in to his shoulder. "Harry, remember when you saved me from that basilisk? You saved my life, Harry, and risked yours to stop Riddle, down in the Chamber of Secrets. Harry...have you lost your sense of honor? Of right and wrong?"

"No," Harry whispered. It all became clear to him. He had killed without reason. Because someone was blocking his way. He had went in to the Dark Arts, and butchered people. He knew what he had to do. He pointed his wand at Ginny, and she flew backwards, landing in Ron's arms, but still alive. "No..." he ran backwards, further pondering what he'd done, running away from everyone, and Harry Potter threw himself off the mountain.



Harry awoke, surprised that he'd lived, in the hospital wing at Hogwarts. Hermione, Ron, Ginny, and Hagrid were standing there. "I'm alive," he whispered hoarsely. "Who saved me?"

"I did, Harry." Hermione was looking at him.

"Why? I get to go to Azkaban now," he said, his throat rough. "I would have preferred to die...so would everyone else."

"No, you don't."

"What the hell do you mean, I don't? I've acted like Voldemort!"

Hermione took out a law book from her robes. "According to this, 'Any one person who has succumbed to the Dark Arts and has killed or worked for a killer on a mass scale, who was also obviously not in his right mind at the time, to be determined by a court judge, is not responsible for his or her actions.'"

"So the judge determines I was in my right mind and I go to Azkaban."

"Do you know who has volunteered to be your lawyer?"

Dumbledore walked in the room and smiled.

Harry put his head down on his pillow. "I deserved to die."

"No, you do not Harry," Ginny said firmly.

"You've had experiences in your life that no one else in history has had," Dumbledore said quietly. "What happened to you as a baby. Your experiences with the Dursleys. Your experience with your mother. Your anger and sadness in these situation erupted from you, Harry. It's gone."

"All right," Harry said quietly. "I'll try and get my life back."



Author's Note: I would like to encourage everyone reading this to consolidate their stories like I have, to cut down on all the clutter on fanfiction.net. Too many stories! Anyone who wants to join the informal "club" supporting this, e-mail me.