Author's Notes: Hello everybody! I was unsatisfied at my first attempt at this story, because my pacing was so slow and I wrote a lot of stuff that ended up not relevant to the story that I wanted to tell, so I deleted the original version and wrote a new story which will include plot lines from the original version and totally new situations for Harry and his friends. I sincerely hope that this will be a better version.

This story takes place after OoTP.

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is the property of JK Rowling and I'm not her.


Chapter 1- The Second War Begins

It was a dreary, rainy summer's day at Little Whinging in Surrey. Rain during the summer months is not uncommon in Britain, but this storm was unusually heavy accompanied by thunder and lightning. Despite the weather, it was a special day for 1 teenage boy, it was Harry Potter's 16th birthday.

Harry laid on his bed tossing a deactivated snitch into the air and catching it. He rarely left his room since arriving back at Privet drive for the summer. It was self imposed exile, his fifth year at Hogwarts was riddled with tragedies. The biggest one was the loss of his godfdather, Sirius. Not a single day passed without Harry remembering the fallen Marauder. The grief that engulfed him was overwhelming that Harry wasn't able to accomplish anything during weeks that he has been back at his relatives' house. Before Sirius' death, he still held on to hope that he may 1 day leave Little Whinging and live with his godfather.

As Harry continued to toss the snitch into the air, he heard a loud rap on his door. Before he could grant permission for that person to enter, Uncle Vernon flung the door wide open.

"Boy, you listen here! Dudley and I are heading to London for a few days. He will be representing Smelting's at an interschool boxing tournament. I came here to tell you that you better behave for your Aunt and you better not burn the house down or else..," barked Uncle Vernon.

"Or else what Uncle Vernon?!" replied Harry without looking at his Uncle.

"I'm going to have you thrown in jail," threatened Vernon Dursley.

"That would be a sight a muggle policeman coming to arrest a wizard," Harry answered rather sarcastically.

"Don't you dare try anything, boy!"

"Uncle Vernon, would like a visit from some of my wizard friends?"

Harry saw that Vernon Dursley was turning red with anger. He was obviously trying to hold his rage in check. If there was 1 thing that Vernon didn't want at all was another visit from one of Harry's kind. The last time a wizard was in his house; his whole living room was blown to bits.

Without another word, a red faced Uncle Vernon left the room by slamming the door behind him. Harry smirked as he remembered the look on his Uncle's face.

As the hours passed by, Harry was still laying on his back totally oblivious to the world around him. He was daydreaming about his parents. He was wondering how his life would have been if they were alive and if Voldemort never came to be. His musings were disturbed by the sound of a car engine. Harry got up and looked out his window, he saw the Durleys' car pull out of the driveway.

"Good riddance," said Harry as he saw Vernon and Dudley leave for London.

Harry proceeded to his trunk and pulled a small album with wizard pictures. He flipped through the pages and saw the only photo of his parents and several photos of his friends. As he stared at the photo of him with Ron and Hermione, he couldn't help but think on how they were doing. He has not heard from them since their 5th year ended.

"I might write them a letter," Harry thought.

He got up and was about to pull a blank parchment from his trunk when he heard a faint knock on his bedroom door.

"Harry, may I come in?" came the voice of Aunt Petunia.

Harry opened the door and saw his Aunt holding a birthday cake with 16 blue candles lining the edges.

"Happy birthday," greeted Petunia.

Harry was speechless. For the past 16 years that he has lived with the Dursleys, his Aunt never had a kind word him and here she was now holding a birthday cake for her nephew.

"I know it's a wee bit of a shock." added Petunia.

"Thank you. But why?" Harry questioned his aunt without taking his eyes off the cake.

"Like I said it is a bit of a shock, but I think its time I tell you what happened between me & your mum. I never really hated her, Harry. Lily was more than a sister, she was my bestfriend." answered Aunt Petunia, she was doing her best not to cry.

"Oh, before anything else this arrived for you this morning Courtesy of your owl"

Aunt Petunia gave Harry a parchment tied with a red silk ribbon. He quickly untied the ribbon & read the letter (it was from the Order).

Dear Harry,

Hello! How are you? Mrs. Figg tells us that you are doing fine. First of, we would like to greet you a very Happy Birthday. Sorry, if were not able to write to you this past month, but there was a real danger that our letters will be intercepted by You-know-who's supporters. Not to worry, we have fixed that problem already; Dumbledore & Moody placed a complex stealth charm on the Order's owls. The charm makes the birds invisible, except to members of the Order & a select few..

We will fetch you from you relatives' place real soon. Just stay put & be careful.

Sincerely,

Lupin, Tonks, Mr. & Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Ron, Hermione & Ginny

P.S. We bought you a gift, but it was too heavy for the owl to carry we will give to you once you arrived at HQ.

On the space below the postscript Harry recognized Ron's & Hermione's hand writing. Harry read Ron's first since it was above Hermione's note.

Hey Harry,

How are you mate? Sorry if Hermione & I are not able to write you a decent letter, but the Order has been sending a lot of mail out lately. There are no owls available. They had even borrowed Pig, believe or not! Hope he does not embraced me by delivering the letter to the wrong person. Anyway, Happy Birthday! The twins also send their greetings. Their joke shop is doing really well, in fact Mum not that mad anymore. They have a new product called "Weasley's special beans," it look & taste like Bertie Bott's but if you eat a vomit flavored one you actually vomit. I was unfortunate to have a cauliflower-flavored one, my ears turned into cauliflower for about an hour. Have you gotten your O.W.L. results? And about the gift the adults bought you that truth is they think Mundungus took it.

See you soon.

Ron

Harry groaned. He totally forgot about his O.W.L.S. He was so busy burying himself in self-pity & anger that he forgot about them. "Well, I have one more thing to worry about," Harry thought. He then went on to read Hermione's short note.

Dear Harry,

How are you? Hope you're fine. I just arrived from Bulgaria. My parents & I went to visit Viktor over the summer (Ron does not know yet, don't tell him). I would like to say Happy Birthday & see you real soon.

I am so nervous about our O.W.L.S!

Take care,

Hermione

"Typical Hermione," thought Harry. He then remembered that his aunt was in his room. He folded the letter & placed it on his nightstand; he then turned around to face his aunt who was slicing Harry's cake.

"Aunt Petunia?" Harry started.

"Finished?" she then handed Harry a piece of cake. "Then, I think it is my turn." Aunt Petunia shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

"Do you remember when I mentioned the dementors last year?"

Harry just nodded.

"The only reason why I remembered them, because I have encountered those foul creatures in the past." Aunt Petunia swallowed hard, she then held up her hand to stop Harry from interrupting her. Harry was trying his best to believe what his aunt just said.

"Harry, I never hated the fact that your mother was a witch. I loved listening to her stories about Hogwarts. We were always close since we were little girls. Me, Lily, & our little sister Rose.

"You have another sister" Harry blurted, he could not control himself anymore. Aunt Petunia nodded in response. "Where is she?

"She's dead." Aunt Petunia was now openly crying. "Those dementors killed her. They killed my parents & my baby sister. It happened a few weeks before your parents died. Lily & your father were openly against Vol...Voldemort & he was after them. He wanted to kill all those who opposed him. Your father wanted you & your mum to be safe, so he brought you & Lily to your grandparents' house. He thought that they will not find you there. He thought it was safe because it was a non-magical place. They would never have thought to look for you & your mother there. But that was not the case, they found out about it. You & your mum were out of the house when they arrived. You have been moved to a new safehouse by James & his friends. I was at my parents' house when it happened. I took Dudley there for a visit. All of a sudden, the room went black & it became extremely cold. It felt like you will never be happy again. Rose told me to get out & take Dudley with me; she was in her 7th year at Hogwarts at that time. I took your cousin & ran as fast as I could. I was able to reach a neighbors' backyard when I heard Rose shout out a spell. After that it was followed by screams of pain & then silence. It took me 30 minutes to be able to recover & see if they were OK. When I went back to our house, I saw Rose on the floor with a shock expression on her face. Our parents were in the kitchen & it looked liked that their mouths were forced open. Wizards from the ministry said that their souls were sucked right out of their body." Aunt Petunia was slightly out of breath after she finished her story. "I blamed it all on your parents. "If you & your mum did not come to stay at my parents' house, they would still be alive." she added.

"Is this true? I can not believe it?" replied Harry, shaking his head slightly.

Before Harry could hear Aunt Petunia's story, his burst into pain bringing Harry to his knees.

"Harry, are you alright?" asked a frightened Petunia as she moved closer to her nephew who was writhing on the ground.

The pain coursed through Harry's body. It felt like several red-hot daggers stabbing him all at the same time. In this moment of pain, he heard an evil voice greeting him.

"Happy birthday, Harry."

Harry fell to the floor, grasping his scar. He could hear Voldermort's mirthless laugh in his head. It was taunting him. As the laughter grew, the pain in his scar became more intolerable. The pain escalated to the point that he was jerking violently on the floor.

"Harry, Harry so how old are you today? 16? 17? Your parents would have been so proud to see you now. But no need to worry you will be them shortly. You can never win with me, dear boy. Have a look at the future."

With Voldemort's words, a world of destruction flashed before Harry's eyes. His first saw the Ministry of Magic deserted & in ruins. Parts of the massive complex were still smoldering. Diagon alley, the once thriving center of the wizarding community in London, was leveled. The vaults of Gringott's were plundered of the treasures that they contained. Hogmeade's was in chaos. But what disturbed Harry the most was the picture of Hogwarts that flashed next. The once great hall was nothing but an empty hole. The banners of the different houses that hung proudly on the ceiling were strewn on the floor tattered to pieces. The long tables were shattered & burning. Harry could feel the heat of the flames on his skin. Then Harry saw Professor Dumbledore sitting in his chair. He looked dead! Blood was dripping was his mouth. His wand was on the floor at his side; it was broken into to two.

"No," screamed Harry. He wanted to run to Dumbledore, but his legs would not move. He felt himself being brought out of the great hall. It was like he was watching a movie. He can see, hear & feel his surroundings; but he had no control of it. When the movement stopped, he was in one of the corridors in Hogwarts. It was littered with the bodies of his fellow students. Harry could see the different colored robes of the dead teenagers. They were from Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff & Slytherin. He wanted to help them, but he can't. Feeling totally helpless, he scanned the hall for any signs of life. But before he could complete this, the vision moved again. He was carried to what he recognized as the room of requirement during D.A. meeting. There he saw Hermione & Ron lying in one corner holding on to each other.

"Ron, Hermione," Harry called out.

Somewhere in his gut he knew that they were gone. The unseen force moved him closer to his best friends. He was forced to look down on them. They were pale & zapped of life.

"No, no. You can't do this!" Harry began to yell. He felt blood stinging his eyes. "I won't let you."

"But it has begun. You cannot stop it," answered Voldemort followed by an evil laugh.

"I will kill you before that happens," replied Harry still fighting the pain in his scar.

"Harry, Harry! Are you ok?" came a distant familiar voice.

Harry willed to his eyes to open and saw the worried face of his aunt who was holding him in her arms. She was using her apron to apply pressure on Harry's scar in order to stop the bleeding.

"Harry, are you alright? Please answer me?" cried Petunia.

Before Harry could answer the question he faded back to unconciousness.


"Jacob, Jacob where are you going?" called Mrs. Spencer to her youngest son.

"I'm going to the field to do some filming, Mum," called back the 12 year old as he was running towards the lush fields the surround the small village of Beckford located deep in the English countryside. Like most English villages, Beckford's source of income is farming & livestock. This quiet little place was far off Britain's tourist trail; you can say that it is a little isolated.

The Spencers were one on the many farming families in Beckford. But unlike most Beckford families their youngest son, Jacob dreamed of becoming a filmmaker. The young boy spent most of his free time making short films with his family & friends. Since he was on his summer holiday, Jacob had a lot more free time than usual & he was determined to use his few weeks of freedom to make a nature film about the creatures that inhabit the fields surrounding his small village. He spent that warm summer day roaming the fields, filming things what he found interesting. It was almost 5 o'clock in the afternoon when Jacob decided to head back home. He was pretty satisfied on what he has done & could not wait to edit the footage.

"Mum. I'm home," said Jacob as he entered the family's kitchen. There he saw his mother having tea with the Blythes.

Mr. & Mrs. Blythe are the Spencers' elderly neighbors, who had to sell their farm because none of their children were interested in running the place.

"Jacob, say hello to our guests," instructed his mother.

"Hello," came his response.

"How are you Jacob?" asked Mr. Blythe. "How's your film coming along?" he added.

"I'm great Sir & everything is coming along fine," answered Jacob with a smile.

"Promise you'll let me see it," said the old man.

"Of course," replied Jacob with a sense of pride. With that he ran to his basement workshop to start polishing his project. The Spencer's basement was hidden underneath a trapdoor in a hallway closet. The family was not the first inhabitants of the house. They always thought that this was interesting feature of their home.

The hours quickly passed by as the young boy worked on his film. He was exhausted and fell asleep with his head resting on his table.

Jacob was awakened by a woman's scream. As sleep left him he heard the scream again. It was his mother! He rushed up the basement stairs. He wanted to know what had happened, he wanted to now if she was fine. He tried to open the trapdoor but it was stucked, but before he started banging on the door, he heard his mother talking to a man whose voice he did not recognize.

"Who are you & what do you want?" asked Jacob's mother she sounded like on the verge of tears.

"Who am I? I am someone you wish you'd never have to meet. What do I want? Not much my dear lady I just want to kill you," answered a cold & evil voice.

"Why?! What have I or my family done to you?" replied Mrs. Spencer who was now crying.

"That's easy you're a muggle & so is your entire family."

"Muggle?" whispered Jacob.

"Oh I'm sorry you don't know what a muggle is. Well, they're non-wizarding folks, which my kind could not tolerate. Muggles are the pests of this earth," explained the man with hatred in his voice.

'Goodbye," with that Jacob saw a flash of green light that seeped through the edges of the trap door. He heard his mother scream for the final time & it was followed by a loud thud.

The young boy stuffed his fist into his mouth to prevent himself from screaming. Tears were rolling down his cheek. "Mummy, Mummy," he called over & over again in his mind.

"Malfoy, let's go. The others are rounding up the remaining muggles," came another man's voice. This voice sounded weak & scared.

"I'll be there in a minute, Pettigrew. I just want to make sure that there is no one left in this house," the man called Malfoy answered.

"Of course," Pettigrew replied.

"Tell the others to put the muggles in the village square. We will take care of them there," ordered Malfoy.

"Yes," came the reply Jacob then heard scampering footsteps leaving the house.

"Aghh…"the young boy heard a scream of pain. "Yes master, I'm coming." Malfoy then left the area before coming across the hidden trapdoor.

"The village square," he remembered. The boy immediately reloaded his camcorder & slowly moved towards the basement's only window that is directly in front of the square. Jacob was shocked at what he saw a group of dark hooded figures were forcing the town's people, which included men, women & children into one group. With their helpless victims in position, the disguised figures began to shoot out green light at what Jacob thought was a small stick. He heard screams of pain mixed with cries for mercy. One by one the people of Beckford dropped dead like flies at the village's square.

Out of the group of deatheaters emerged a lone figure that pointed his wand towards the night sky, a few moments later a green skull appeared over the ravaged English village. The other deatheaters in their sense of accomplishment shot balls of light onto the air further illuminating the dark mark, with that they disapparated from the scene.


"Summon the members of the Order. NOW!" came the booming order of Professor Dumbledore as he entered the dining room of 12 Grimmauld Place where Lupin, Tonks and Mr. Weasley where drinking a cup of tea.

"Is anything wrong?" asked Lupin.

"Yes, something very bad has happened. My brother Aberforth just notified me that an English village was attacked by deatheaters last night," answered Dumbledore.

"What?" came Tonks' response.

"By Merlin, were their any casualties?" inquired a worried-looking Arthur Weasley.

"Aberforth said that apparently only 1 boy was found alive and he was able to record the deatheaters killing villagers on a device called a video recorder," added Professor Dumbledore. "We need to have an emergency meeting. Kindly summon the members."

With that Tonks, Lupin and Mr. Weasley left the dining room and proceeded to the owlery. The use of owls was the preferred way of the Order to communicated since the Floo network was heavily monitored by the Ministry of Magic and the Order has not a found a way around all monitoring charms that were in place. Dumbledore with the help of Snape and Kingsley Shacklebolt have put stealth charms to make them invisible to muggles and non-Order members. The owls were also given a special potion to make them fly faster.


"Summon the members of the Order. NOW!" Professor Dumbledore's voice reverberated all throughout No. 12 Grimmauld Place.

Ron Weasley was still asleep in one of the bedrooms on the second floor of the house when all the commotion coming from the dining room startled him. Ron quickly got up and made his way to the door. He wanted to know what was happening. As he headed to the stairs, he bumped into Ginny and Hermione who were still in their dressing gowns.

"I wonder what's happening?" asked Ginny.

"I don't know," replied Ron.

"Whatever it is? It's serious. I have never heard Professor Dumbledore so angry," added Hermione as they headed down the stairs.

Halfway down the flight of stairs, the trio ran into Lupin, Tonks and Mr. Weasley.

"Dad, what going on?" inquired Ron.

"Nothing to worry about kids. We're just about to have another meeting. Kindly go back to your rooms," answered Mr. Weasley.

Mr. Weasley was never a good liar. Ron and Ginny could see beads of sweat on their father's brow and his lips were quivering. He was also pale as a ghost.

"They obviously hiding something," said Ginny.

"I know, but I wonder what?" replied Ron.


Harry opened his eyes. He gently rubbed the grains of sleep off them. He turned toward his nightstand & started to feel for his glasses. After holding it in his hand, he put them on. As he sat at the edge of his bed, he felt like a sledgehammer had just hit him several times.

"What happened?" he inquired to himself.

He tried his best to remember the events of the previous day. Much to Harry's frustration he could not remember anything pass the conversation he had with his Aunt Petunia late yesterday afternoon.

After Harry took a refreshing shower, he made his way to the kitchen. When he passed the living room, he saw Aunt Petunia watching television with dread written all over her face, she was also crying into her hands.

"Anything wrong, Aunt Petunia?" asked Harry as he entered the living room.

"Oh Harry. Thank God, you're OK," said Petunia as she engulfed Harry in a hug. "I thought I have lost you there for awhile. You were shaking so violently."

Just as Harry was trying his best to comfort his aunt, he caught a glimpse of the news on the television.

"Harry, I think some wizards attacked a small town," said Aunt Petunia as she saw her nephew fixated on their TV set.

"Are you sure?" asked Harry.

"Yes," with that Petunia increased the volume. Harry could now clearly hear what the reporter from the news was saying.

Reporter: The village of Beckford was devastated last night by still unknown assailants. The police commissioner has confirmed the every single citizen of the village is dead. Apparently only one has survived… As you can see a weird sign or symbol is hovering over the town.

The camera pointed to the skies over the town a giant green skull was visible. At the sight of this Harry felt another stab of pain on his scar.

Reporter: The police, military & every other public agency are here assessing the situation. We are not allowed to go into the village. The entire village is off limits to civilians and they are many here who would like to know what happened at the tiny village of Beckford. We will keep you updated with any new developments…

"Deatheaters," came Harry's shock reply.

"Death…what?" asked Petunia.

"They are Voldemort's minions. I could not believe that they would attack a town full of innocent muggled," replied Harry who now could feel his anger boiling over. He couldn't keep his emotion under control, the thought of a whole town destroyed made him want to kill Voldemort more.

"Harry…" said Petunia Durlsey as she placed her hand on Harry's shoulder.

The television set exploded in flames.

"Aghh," yelled a frightened Petunia who then ran into the kitchen to get a fire extinguisher.

As she put out the fire in their living room, Harry remained motionless on the couch staring intently at the smoldering remains of the Durleys' TV.

"He won't get away with this," vowed Harry Potter.


"This is serious, Albus," Kingsley Shacklebolt pointed out as Mundungus turned off a muggle device called a television.

"Our world has been exposed," exclaimed Tonks whose hair color kept on changing due to her anxiety.

With Tonks remark the gathered witches & wizards started to talk all at the same time. Each having their own opinions on what they had just witness. Some were outraged while others were frightened. Some were unsure on what to do.

"SILENCE," ordered Professor Dumbledore. "Everybody please clam down. As we are speaking Aberforth is talking to the muggle prime minister & the Ministry of Magic have offered their assistance. But the Order should launch our own investigation, so that we will know when Voldemort & his deatheaters will strike again. We must do everything in our power to protect ourselves & the muggles,"

"Why did he do it?" asked Bill Weasley.

"I have several theories, but could not pinpoint an exact answer," replied Albus Dumbledore. "But our main concern now is to retrieve Harry and bring him here."

"Alastor, you are in charge of this venture," added the aged wizard.

Alastor Moody nodded in agreement.

"It's settled then. The sooner we get Harry here, the better."


A/N: Please read and review.