Unfortunate Circumstances
Chapter 1: Remembering
A/N: I have no idea where this came from. I was watching Goblet of Fire, and this entered my mind. Lemme know what you think, I'm not exactly a Harry Potter genius, so forgive me for my mistakes and take it easy. Begins at the end of the events of the third movie and continues from there.
If anything, Harry Potter was glad that all the hype about werewolves and Sirius Black was over. Almost losing a family friend, who is also his Godfather, made him start thinking of the first friend he ever had: Dodger Dent. She and her father lived next door to him and the Dursleys all his life. They met when they were six, while Dodger was trying to climb over the fence to get to the Dursley's backyard to get a ball, and Harry found it and gave it back. They soon became inseparable. Dodger would hop the fence and visit Harry everyday. However, there was a small problem.
Dodger comes from a family of thieves and wizards going back thousands of years. The Dent family was infamous in the wizard world and the muggle world for committing crimes all over the world both with and without magic. Dodger's father, Connor Dent, often took Dodger on long heists with him to teach her the "family trade." From the time she was three, Dodger had always dreamed of being the perfect thief, and making her father proud.
Dodger was also a tomboy to the extreme. Anything girl-ish to her was repulsive and stupid. So, to save himself trouble, Connor just let her wear whatever she wanted. She had light brown hair of moderate length, golden-brown eyes, and was very tall and muscular for her age. More so than all the girls in town that they knew of.
Connor was a medium-sized man, with brown hair, a mustache, and the beginnings of a beard. He wore a gray hat, and carried his cane wherever he went. The cane was a very special one, the staff was crafted out of the finest, toughest wood, with a polished gold hook on the top. That cane was his pride and joy, to be handed down later to his other pride and joy, Dodger. She couldn't wait for the day when she inherited the cane and the Dent family's most valued treasure: an ancient book titled "Fur Morus," which is Latin for "The Thief Mutt." It is a book that has been written by the Dent family to pass on for future generations to chronicle their own adventures and thieving skills since around 1300 BC.
Harry could remember distinctly all the stories Dodger told him, that her father had told her. Unfortunately, the Dursleys hated the Dents because they were dishonest thieves, and everybody knew it. Hardly any of the neighborhood kids would play with Dodger, because she was the kind of kid that parents warn their kids not to associate with. Dodger didn't mind, though. She had her father and Harry to hang out with.
When it came time for Harry to go to Hogwarts at age eleven, Dodger went with him. Ron seemed to take to Dodger quite well, but Hermione was very weary. Dodger wasn't the most trustworthy or honest person in the world, in fact, many were surprised when she got put in Gryffindor house with them, but she was good-natured and Harry knew it, and Dumbledore recognized it.
The first year was pleasant for them all, but the second year was very rough. Dodger had been caught stealing from some professors, and accidentally performed a spell in front of a muggle. Harry remembered the trial quite vividly:
"Miss Dodger Dent. You are here today because you have been accused of the following crimes..." the judge said, retrieving a piece of parchment from under several folders. "For stealing, and posessing stolen property from numerous Hogwartz professors and for performing magic in the presence of a muggle."
The twelve year-old witch stood in handcuffs in front of the Ministry of Magic, as well as half of Gryffindor house. After a long process of presenting evidence and cross-examination, the jury had reached a verdict. Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat with the other Gryffindors awaiting the verdict.
"The jury finds miss Dodger Dent guilty as charged for all accused crimes."
"Yes. Very well. Miss Dent, your actions are hardly forgivable. Therefore, your judgment is this..." the entire room sat on the edge of their seats, hoping for the best.
"Expulsion from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and five years in Azkaban prison." The judge then hammered his mallet on the table.
"No!" Harry wanted to yell, but it was against his better judgment. Dodger was his best friend, he couldn't handle the rest of his time at Hogwarts without her. As two guards led her out of the courtroom, Dodger showed no emotion. She was probably wondering how her father would feel about it. She did her family name no justice by getting caught.
Harry had to finish off his second year without Dodger. Of course, he still had Ron and Hermione, but Dodger he had known almost his whole life. He knew it wasn't the end of the world, but it didn't feel good.
He remembered the look on her face as she was being led out. As much as she tried to show no emotion, Harry could tell she was feeling like a disgrace to her family. Pride was important in the Dent family, and hers was severely wounded.
Oh, how familiar the memory of that day was for Harry Potter. That was the last time he would ever see Dodger Dent...or so he thought.
A/N: So...what? Should I keep writing this? Sorry it's so short, I can't think very well at midnight while writing on my iPod.