(Book 7)
Preface
Dumbledore was dead. Harry was alone with nowhere to go. He could not go back to the Dursley's house, because he might be found. He could not go to Sirius' house, because Sirius was dead too. Harry had nowhere to go but to the Weasleys.
Harry Potter was not upset about going to stay with the Weasleys, but he wanted to spend the summer fighting Death Eaters and Dementors. Under Mrs. Weasley's watchful and protective eye, Harry would never even be a foot away from her for one second. Harry thought that she was a bit overprotective, but this was his only hope as a home for the summer.
Harry was now seventeen years old and a legal wizard. He was not sure that he was even going to school for his final term, but he really wanted to be an Auror, so he had to go back and finish Potions, Divination, and Defense Against the Dark Arts.
Chapter 1 The Dursleys, The Dream, and The DayThe Dursleys' house was quiet, solemn, and bruised as it stood on the corner of Privet Drive. It was vandalized and empty. The Dursleys were gone. They had fled to Australia, because they were afraid of the world coming to an end. This was not an uncommon act of Muggles, because Voldemort had begun his foreseen extermination of Muggles and non-Death Eaters. The unexplainable killings, the new and incurable illnesses and injuries, the countless cases of insanity, and the inarticulate words of victims were all clues as to the end of the world. Some people chose not to believe it, and they thought it a bunch of rubbish. Others would go into hiding or kill themselves over the fear of the magical powers of extremely powerful witches and wizards. But still, many did not know what to think. Those people would turn to government officials to take care of the problems for them. The government was absolutely clueless though (both the Muggle government and the wizarding government). No one had any idea about what to do except Harry Potter.
Harry Potter had been tossing and turning all night, which was not unusual, because he had been having really bad nightmares for years. This particular dream was about the Weasleys, which was unusual, because the only dream that he had ever had about the Weasleys was when Mr. Weasley had gotten attacked by a snake in his fifth year at Hogwarts. Harry could not predict what this dream had meant, so he just relaxed and kept dreaming.
"No…no…no…no…no…No…No…No…NO…NOOO…NOOOOOOO…NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO…Please no…take me instead…don't hurt him…don't…no…no…!" Harry screamed through sweaty lips as he tossed and turned in his bed at the Weasleys house.
"Harry honey wake up. Harry Wake Up! HARRY WAKE UP!" Mrs. Weasley spoke as if she was getting more and more annoyed with Harry as he didn't do as she said and continued to wake the whole family up, but Harry knew that was not true. "Harry Potter, if you don't come out of that Awful dream right this instant, than I am going to call Professor McGonagall and have him get you out of it."
Harry awoke, wiping sweat from his forehead, he said, "I really am sorry Mrs. Weasley, but I just had the worst dream of all. What made it the worst was that all of you were in it. Voldemort was torturing all of you and he had me tied to a chair. I would have helped you, but he threatened to kill me and then kill all of you. I really am okay though, so you shouldn't worry about me. If you could, I really would like a word with your husband and than Professor McGonagall. That would make me feel a lot better about this whole situation."
"Alright Harry. I will do my best. It is almost morning so, you can come downstairs and I will make you a hot muffin and some cocoa. First, let me go find Author. Then I will send Professor McGonagall a letter."
"Thanks Mrs. Weasley. I really am sorry for all of this mess, I mean, what if it is just another one of Voldemort's tricks to get me to be near a certain person. What if he is just using me, or what if something is actually going to happen to you and your family? How can I know for sure?"
"It's alright Harry. There are certain precautions that you have to take. Professor McGonegall will take care of herself and she will be able to tell us if this is something that we need to worry about, so don't you fret."
"Honey, is something the matter? I heard screaming and moaning coming from Harry's room, and I decided that I better come up and take a look. Is everything all right? Was it another nightmare?" Mr. Weasley's face was drawn and tired looking. He had huge black bags under his eyes from lack of sleep. His face also had a sense of worry in it, but he was in desperate need of sleep and time to himself. Mr. Weasley had been up every night for the past week doing some type of mystery work for the Order of the Phoenix. No one but himself knew where he was going. "Is there anything that I can do to help?"
"I think I have everything under control, but Harry would like a word with you Author. I had a hard time getting anything out of him, but he says that if his dream is anything to worry about, than you would know right away."
"Okay. Harry? What was your dream about?" Mr. Weasley asked curiously.
"Um…well…it was just like the usual dream until you and your family came into the picture," Harry said as he was thinking the whole thing through himself.
"And what do you mean by normal?"
"Well they all usually involve Voldemort, the Death Eaters, and someone, a victim, being tortured or killed. But in this dream, you, Ron, Fred, George, Bill, Ginny and Mrs. Weasley were the victims. I was in the dream too, which was unusual because I am usually looking through Voldemort's eyes as though I am inside his head.
This time, I was sitting on a chair, but I could not move because I was tied down with a spell. Voldemort had each of you hanging over a boiling cauldron. You all looked out of sorts and badly beaten, but I could not really tell if you were dead or alive. I kept saying to him that he should kill me instead because I am more valuable that you, but he said, 'Oh no, I like this much better, because you see, I get seven heads on my wall instead of just one.' I would have tried a counter jinx on those rope spells, but he smashed my wand. What should I do?"
"Well, you are in trouble indeed. Voldemort is going to try to capture you and then kill you, and since you just saw that dream, you are going to have a lot of vulnerability to believe what he makes you think. You should have practiced Occlumency while you had the chance. Now, I may be wrong, so I want you to talk to Professor McGonegall about this dream. If I am right, than we are going to have to take certain safety precautions to try and keep you safe."
"Where is he, where is the boy?" Harry could hear Professor McGonegall walking briskly across the wood floor. "Oh gosh, I hope that we aren't next. Where is he? Upstairs? Which room? Oh Alright." Harry heard her working her way up the stairs and down the hall. "Harry? For gosh sake. Harry? Harry? Where are you?"
"I'm in here Professor," Harry said glumly
"Ah yes. Harry, now how are you doing? What seems to be the problem? A dream perhaps, or something like that? Tell me."
Harry went on to tell her about his dream and then what Mr. Weasley had said about it.
"I think that he is right. You are in big trouble. We must have Lupin guard you 100 of the time. You must tell us if you have any more dreams. If you do, have more dreams, than we must begin to prepare an army for fighting. And Harry, this is very serious, top-secret business. Until we get this mess taken care of, you will not be able to go back to Hogwarts. I am really sorry, but you will not be able to be an Auror now without a full seventh year of schooling."
"But…But it isn't fair. Couldn't someone tutor me? Couldn't I just learn from the books or from Hermoine? That is all I really want to do. My only goal is to be an Auror. That is all I want. Isn't there some possible way?"
"No, I am really sorry, but the our only hope in this situation was Professor Snape, and he was a Death Eater all along. Hermione can try to teach you, but the work that a seventh year has to deal with is so great, I don't know if she will be able to do it. We can try though." Her voice sounded reassuring, but Harry a feeling of hopeless.
"Okay. Let's give it a try. Will I ever be able to go out in public again? Will I ever be normal again?"
"Well Harry, I appreciate your enthusiasm. You will eventually be able to go into public, but your safety is our number one priority right now. Harry Potter, you were never a normal boy. You never were and never will be. You are special and unique in your own special ways. I will go and inform Lupin and have him come down here and look after you. Harry if you have not listened to anything that I have said so far, than I want you to listen and comprehend this: HARRY POTTER, YOU ARE NOT TO LEAVE THIS HOUSE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE. YOU ARE NOT TO CONTACT ANYONE, AND IF YOU NEED ANYTHING, YOU MUST ASK MRS. OR MR. WEASLEY FOR PERMISSION BEFORE YOU CAN MOVE.
Harry, it is so important that you follow those rules because if you don't, your life could be put on the line. I will ask Miss Granger if she would like to come and stay here with you and the Weasleys, and I will make frequent visits. Remember, if you have any dreams, I want you to write them down, word for word. Harry, be safe, and do as you are told."
"Thank you Professor. Thank you for coming and listing."
Harry was crushed. In a matter of fifteen minutes, he was ripped away from the outside world, all means of communication, and anything else that he had ever dreamed. This time all that he could do was sit on the "side-lines" and watch, while everyone else was "playing in the game." He was crushed.
He had to talk to someone, but who? Dumbledore and Sirius were dead. Ron and Hermione wouldn't know what to think or say. He had no one. He was alone in a small room in the Weasley's house with nothing to look forward that summer but Lupin's careful watch over him, Professor McGonegall's frequent visit, and not being allowed to go anywhere but from room to room. Harry was alone, afraid, and angry.
Harry Potter was angry with himself for telling everyone about his dream. He was angry with Mr. Weasley for making the assumption that the dream meant that Voldemort was going to kill Harry and not hurt his own family, and Harry was angry with Professor McGonegall for laying down so many rules and procedure guidelines for Harry to follow.
Harry felt like a prisoner with nowhere and no one to turn to but himself and his dreams. All of his freedom, pride, and thoughts had been taken away from him in the short span of one day.