Chapter 1

Zane awoke so suddenly that morning that he quickly sat up and looked around his room, wondering if perhaps there was an intruder. His eyes wandered from the large curtained window on the left, to the oak wardrobe directly across the room from his bed, over to a study table and a large bookshelf stacked to breaking, then to a large blue fluffy and slightly pulsating rug on the floor, and finally to the many posters of men and women in identical robes zooming in and out of view upon broomsticks. He wondered why he had awoken so abruptly and then his face lit up like a Christmas light when he remembered. Today was the third of July! Today was the day! The boy leapt out of bed so fast he almost tripped over the covers. He reached his window and hastily moved apart the curtains; it was morning but just barely. The suns radiant rays hadn't yet reached 12th Whitehouse Lane, Bristol, UK. Zane grinned and moved over to his bedside cabinet where he opened the draw and took out his most prized position for the past two weeks. A piece of gold paper. A Quidditch ticket, his access to what he was sure to be greatest match of year! His team, the Appleby Arrows, would once again be facing off against Puddlemere United. Puddlemere didn't stand a chance of course, not against the great Arrows! But still it would be fun to watch their demise.

Zane heard sounds from below, which signified that his parents were already up and about. He grabbed his towel and toothbrush and made his way to the bathroom. By the time he was dressed in his muggle wear of jeans, plaid shirt, and sneakers, his mother was already shouting at him to come downstairs. Zane's stomach gave a leap of excitement; it was sinking in more than ever. He was really going! This would only be the third time he had been to a Quidditch game, his parents were usually too busy to be bothered with such trivialities and it was only with great sacrifice on the part of his father that this was finally happening. Zane loved Quidditch as much as he adored interesting animals…..almost.

When Zane reached down the stairs his mother immediately bore down upon him. She was already dressed for work in a smart blue business suit.

"Your breakfast is on the table," She said breathlessly as she kissed his cheek. "Made your favorite. Do try not to bring home any strays this time,"

Zane flushed with embarrassment and his mother gave a twinkling laugh.

"I know you feel compel to rescue every run away dog and cat you meet but you are kind of filling up the shelter. Be good and have fun." With that she took three steps forward and elegantly spun around in half circle. There was a loud crack and she was gone, vanished into thin air. Zane still found that amazing no matter how many times his parents did it, he couldn't wait to learn Apparation. To him it was the epitome of wizardry. With a huff Zane scampered into the kitchen where he found his father seated at his usual place at the table, his head buried behind the Daily Prophet. Zane slid into his seat besides him and surveyed his plate of blueberry pancakes, chocolate syrup, and orange juice with great satisfaction. He dug in like a starving man.

"Remember to breath," Mr. Longsharks commented as he turned the page.

Zane gave a noncommittal grunt and scoffed down another chunk of warm hot pancakey goodness.

"Anything good in there, pops?" Zane asked squinting at the front page. It was some rubbish about the new age of equality, nothing to interest an 11 year old boy.

"This talk of Shacklebolt's, about equality among all kind is disconcerting," His father grunted. "Not to say that I don't believe in equality. But to put us on level with Werewolves and House Elves and Giants? Hope he knows what he's doing, magical community won't take this one quietly."

"Well I think it's brilliant." Zane said coldly.

"Think boy," Mr. Longsharks snapped turning the page. "These creatures aren't pets, they aren't the harmless easily trained animals that you so adore. They are monsters, dangerous and uncivilized! How'd it be if a Werewolf attacked your family and killed all your children, eh?" Zane was jut about to retort but his father continued. "And thanks to Shacklebolt's new regime that occurrence is bound to become much more likely. Bringing them in such close quarters to us. Fudge may have been stupid and inept but at least he would never had heard of this type of thing."

"Not all Werewolves and Giants are bad!" Zane said heatedly.

His father looked at him over the papers exasperated and shook his head muttering something, Zane caught the words "too young". He returned to his papers while Zane returned to his breakfast seething. It wasn't a Werewolf's fault that he was like that. So in that case why shouldn't they be treated fairly? No, his father was wrong.

"Hurry up." Mr. Longsharks said folding the paper on the table. "We've only got one hour before it starts."

Excitement quickly rushed into Zane once more, he eagerly finished his breakfast and stood up. His father took out his wand and lazily flicked it at the dish where the remains of Zane's meal instantly vanished, leaving the plate sparkling. Elliot Longsharks stood up and gave a great yawn, unlike Mrs. Longsharks he was decked out wizard style in pale blue robes and a purple cloak. His curly black hair was cut short as was his beard.

"Where they having it, pops?" Zane asked breathlessly as his father stepped forward.

"Some place up in the Wales Mountains." His father replied with a shrug.

"The Dragon Reserve?" Zane asked his eyes gleaming. Quidditch and Dragons all at once! Now that was truly heaven. His father gave a gruff laugh and shook his head pityingly.

"I swear," he chortled. "This obsession will be the end of you. Well ready? Got everything you need? Ticket and all?"

Zane nodded and his father held out his arm. The stepped forward and took it and with a turn and loud crack they both vanished.

No matter how many times he experience it Zane could never get over the ugly feeling of Apparition. All at once everything went black and it felt as though he was being squeezed from all corners. He couldn't breath and he couldn't see, and it was as if he was being swallowed whole by some great beast. Zane found that the only accurate comparison was being sucked through a small drinking straw at high speed. Just when Zane was sure he would die everything appeared back into existence with a loud crack and his feet slammed into the ground so hard his knees buckled. He fought to urge to heave as he leaned forward trying to steady himself.

"I hate that." He said weakly.

His father merely laughed and thumped him on the back which didn't help the situation one bit. Zane looked up and saw that they were now in a crowded field. It wasn't exactly snowing but it was chilly, fireworks were constantly firing overhead and you could see temporary stalls every few yards. It was an explosion of color, noise, and smells. Zane could not help but grin, the festive mood was contagious. He heard a lively jig playing from somewhere which was giving him an overwhelming urge to dance the day away.

"Come on." Elliot Longsharks said to his son as he checked his watch. "Or we'll be late."

He looked up with shining anticipation on his face, he could see the huge stadium from here. He himself could hardly wait! Zane looked up as his father and grinned as they began making for the Quidditch pitch, he treasured moments like this because his dad was an extremely busy man and father son time were rare and in-between. Mr. Longsharks usually left for work before Zane had awoken and returned long after Zane had gone to bed, Zane knew his father had an important time consuming job but he couldn't help but be bitter at times.

"You think we going win pops?" Zane asked breathlessly as he kept pace with his father.

"I don't know," Mr. Longsharks said thoughtfully. "Puddlemore is no pushover. Especially with that new Keeper of theirs…"

Zane knew that he was talking about Oliver Wood, he had heard about Wood. Everyone who had watched him play could not help but comment upon his brilliance.

"Woods is no match for Miller," Zane said loyally. Verona Miller was the best Seeker the Arrows had seen in years according to Quidditch Today. "She'll fly circles around him!"

His father laughed and ruffled Zane's hair.

"Let's just hope this one don't go on for sixteen days," Mr. Longsharks said. "Ollie would skin my life for even thinking about staying away from work that long."

"Souvenirs!" Called a salesman beside a rack of merchandise just a few feet away, "Get your official Appleby Arrows merchandize here!"

Zane quickly looked over to the salesman longingly, he could do with a couple of Appleby Arrows merchandize! His father laughed once more.

"Here," Mr. Longsharks said handing him a couple Galleons. "Go get yourself some before you die."

Zane grinned from ear to ear and rushed over to the stand where he stood examining the rows of goodies.

A few minutes later he returned to his father's side now wielding a large blue flag with a flaming arrow emblazed upon it, the flag chanted "Appleby Arrows for the Cup!" loudly every time it was waved. He also had a large blue top hat with a real life flaming arrow stuck through it and a small tube that the vendor assured him would fire a spurt of arrow shaped flames into the air when squeezed. He and his father made their way to the stadium chatting excitedly about their favorite player and the match to come. In every direction Zane looked he saw faces as excited as his own looking back. Soon they arrived at the stadium. It's huge, Zane thought craning his head up to try and see the top. Huge about summed up the gigantic silver oval structure that looked as if though it would put four roman coliseums to shame. The base of it was lined with gigantic arches that served as entrances, the crowd was flooding through the entrances and up the stairs to the different seats on the multilevel. Zane followed his father through, he felt a curious feeling near to leg as he passed through the entrance. Zane patted his leg absentmindedly, only then realizing that that was the pocket in which his ticket was stored. Thinking he'd need it now he reached into his pocket to find the ticket gone. Zane turned his pocket out terrified, this couldn't be happening? Where was it? He had certainly put it in that pocket. Mr. Longsharks raised a quizzical eyebrow as he noticed his son viciously rummaging through his clothing.

"If you are looking for your ticket," He said slowly. "Its gone. New ticket collection system. Vanishes as soon as you pass the entrance. Mine is gone too."

Zane gaped at his father in surprise. That definitely had not been there last time he had been to a Quidditch game. Magic really was something else. He couldn't wait to start Hogwarts, it sounded like such fun! Zane followed his father all the way to the top of the stadium. After climbing what felt like fifty thousand steps they finally found their seats. Zane slumped down into his gratefully, his legs were on fire! There was a loud popping noise and flashes from above, the boy looked up and saw more fireworks flashing across the sky. He shivered with anticipation. He knew this would be the best Quidditch match ever! The field was perfectly manicured; it looked like something off a Quidditch magazine. The grass was neat and green and the goal posts seem to gleam in the midmorning sunlight, a huge double sided score board hung suspended in midair above. There was a lively hum of chatter rising from all sides as everyone appreciated the beauty of the fireworks. Magnificent multicolor shapes danced above, dragons, birds, and broomsticks. Despite being bright sunlight they showed perfectly. Smiling he shifted his attention to his father; Mr. Longsharks was staring at the side but did not appear to be appreciating the fireworks. He appeared to be deep in thought about something. This annoyed Zane, this was suppose to be their time together.

"Dad," Zane said loudly.

"What?" Elliot Longsharks's head snapped around, looking at his son with quizzical eyes.

"What do you do at the Ministry?"

It was a favorite game of Zane, he knew that his father was an Unspeakable in the Department of Mysteries. That basically meant that Mr. Longsharks could no more tell Zane what exactly he did there than he could grow wings and flap to join the Quidditch game. Giving away that information to anyone, anyone at all, meant a life sentence in Azkaban after all. But Zane liked to pop the question on him when he was least suspecting in an attempt to get him to answer without him really knowing it. Elliot Longsharks smiled at his son and shook his head knowingly.

"Tell me," he said. "If that didn't work the first couple thousand times, why do you keep on asking?"

"It's you who is always saying that persistence is the stairway to success." Zane replied promptly.

"I also said that one should always know their limits lest they loose themselves in an impossible task." His father replied with a chortle. "This is one of those tasks."

"I will find out, even if it takes me sixty years!" Zane promised.

Mr. Longsharks snorted loudly but did not reply, just as well as the last fireworks whizzed out and a loud booming voice echoed throughout the stadium.

"Welcome to the sixth Inter-country Qudditch match of the season!" The voice stated. "We have a real exciting match today. The Appleby Arrows," A tremendous roar went up from the crowd. Zane and his father added to the din with cheers and whistles. Zane along with hundreds of others waved his flag, adding Appleby Arrows for the Cup! to the racket. "Vs reigning champions, Puddlemore United!" An equally loud cheer went up for the rival team, Zane made sure to boo as loudly as he could. His father only laughed and shook his head.

"So without further ado," The voice continued. "Let us welcome the players of the Appleby Arrows Quidditch team! Miller! Gimbly! Stevens! Bones! Smith! Finkleberry! And Arnolds!" Seven pale blue blurs shot out from the unseen changing rooms below in successive order and settled on the pitch. Zane cheered himself hoarse along with the other supporters while simultaneously waving the flag, he later remembered the tube and squeezed it off into the air and as promised a fiery arrow shape streak of white hot flames shot high into the sky. His wasn't the only one.

"And the competitors! Put your hands together for Puddlemore United! Samuels! Haines! Prewett! Jameson! Owens! Woods! And Bones!" A deafening cheer went up from all sides as Puddlemore fans leapt to their feet and waved their own flags in support, Zane was disgusted to hear the Puddlemore United anthem from all around him. He focused on the seven figures wearing navy blue now on the pitch. He squinted as he tried to get a good look at the new Keeper, Woods. He was burly and had dark hair but his face was indistinguishable from that height. Harry could not see anything special about this supposedly unbelievably talented player.

"Refereeing the match," The voice announced. "Hephaestus Stebbins!"

A scrawny figure flew out unto the pitch carrying a box, he stood between the two opposing teams and released the balls…..

By the end of it all Zane knew exactly what was special about Oliver Woods. As much as he hated to admit it, being a very loyal Appleby fan, Woods was incredible! He had never seen anybody block goals like that before, not even the legendary Verona Miller, best Chaser the Arrows had seen in a long time, could get more than three goals past him. After eight hours of play the Arrows had managed to scrape a narrow win when Jermaine Arnolds captured the snitch, leaving the final score at two hundred and eighty to two hundred and ninety. Zane and his father discussed the match all the way back out into the field where they had first apparated. Zane smiled, the sun was past setting and he was very tired. It had been a good day but now he could feel his stomach rumbling and with a jolt he realized that he hadn't eaten since early morning.

"That was some game." Mr. Longsharks said finally. "But lets get home. I don't know about you but I'm starving."

Zane nodded his head vigorously and took a deep breath as his father took a firm grip of his arm. With a half spin they vanished with a loud crack.

As soon as Zane stopped spinning and they appeared in the living room, he sensed something was wrong. Apparently his father felt it as well as his hand instantly stiffened on Zane's arm. He looked around nervously…..something was really wrong…..Buck hadn't come to meet them as he always did! Just as that thought crossed Zane's mind Mr. Longsharks hurled him to the side where he slammed heavily into the ground a few feet away with a grunt. Just then the house erupted in blinding flashes of light as four stunning spells headed for Elliot Longsharks who snatched his wand from inside his robes pocket and deflected all of them so fast that his hand seemed to blur.

"Dad!" Zane shouted scrambling to his feet but his father waved his wand in his direction, Zane's feet left the ground, as if though he had just been picked up by a giant, and he flew backwards towards the wall.

"Stay where you are, Zane!" Mr. Longsharks shouted.

Figures were Apparating in the living room now; it was like a bad dream. He could do nothing but watch the dark figures invade his home. Lights illuminated the room like a fireworks display as spells were casted and deflected, Mr. Longsharks deflected a next stunner and whipped his wand around causing the couches in the room to raise up and hurled themselves at his attackers who managed to blast them out of the air, but this distraction gave Elliot Longsharks the opportunity he needed to launch a counter attack. He brandished his wand once more, spinning it in a circle overhead and causing a long swirl of blue flames to form above. Elliot gave a snarl and brought his wand around in a savage sweep, the swirl of flames came about with a crack and wrap around one of the assailants like a fiery snake. The man fell to the ground screaming pain. Mr. Longsharks dissaparated just then, not a moment too soon as four stunners struck the place where he had been standing half a second previous. He apparated by the door and it seem almost before he had fully appeared his wand was up and he had realized a stunning spell which struck another of the assailants straight in the chest, lifting him off the ground and sending him crashing through the window and out into the yard. It was only then that Elliot Longsharks noticed that his son was still standing there, watching the battle entranced and apparently too shocked to move.

"GET OUT OF HERE!" He bellowed. "RUN!"

But Zane couldn't move, he could do nothing but watch as his father rolled to the side once more; this time to avoid a jet of acid green light that burnt a whole into the wooden floor where it struck. The boy's heart gave a horrible lurch as he realized what the spell was, and what would have been the outcome had it struck his father. He had to do something! He had to go for help.

"STOP!" Another voice yelled. "STOP! DON'T KILL HIM! WE NEED HIM ALIVE!"

Zane knew that it had to be one of the attackers who were speaking. He watched another couple of stunning spells heading towards his father who deflected them once more. One of the deflected jets of light smashed into the wall a few inches besides his face. This jolted him back into reality, Zane turned and rushed towards the door. He had to tell someone, he had to tell anyone! A strong cold arm gripped the back of Zane's neck in a steely hold. He gave a yell of fright surprise and tried to yank himself away but the person wrapped a thick forearm around Zane's neck, cutting off his air supply. The boy spluttered and choked but the hold did not loosen, he was going to die. He knew it.

"Drop your wand or watch the light leaves your son's eyes, Longsharks." Said the man who had a grip of Zane, his voice was cold and determined. Zane felt the tip of a wand poke him in the jaw, he gave an involuntary whimper. Almost immediately Zane heard a clatter which signified a wand hitting the ground, this meant that his father was now at the mercy of these men and it was his fault. Zane gave another moan and tried to struggle but the grip was unyielding, he couldn't breath, he was on the edge of blacking out…..

"Gray, stun him please." Said the voice, "Just be good Longsharks, and I'll let your boy go I swear. I'm not one to harm kids."

"I highly doubt that scum," Zane's father snarled in reply. "But I promise you if you touch one hair on Zane's head I'll_"

He didn't finish his sentence as he was struck full on in the chest with a stunning spell and collapsed motionless to the floor. Zane tried to call out but he couldn't make a son, black edges were circling the corner of his eyes. His lungs were empty. This was it…

Just then the vicegrip around his neck relinquished and he was pushed forward. Zane staggered forth and was about to fall when something slammed into the small of his back propelling him forward and causing him to smash into the floor face first. He couldn't move, he had been stunned.
"Grab him Doyle," Said the same voice. "Let's get out of here. We've made too much noise as is…"

"He was tougher than we thought."

"Shouldn't have underestimated him then, idiot. I said grab him! Gray will you please revive Sulson so we can get the hell out of here!"

A minute later there ware four distinct cracks as the assailants disapparated, and with his father no doubt. Zane didn't have long to think of it however, he soon succumbed to the shock and blacked out.