Chapter One- The Strange Event

The seventeen-year old boy with the raven hair sat on his bed staring at the ceiling. Suddenly his forehead began to burn and he passed out, hearing a very high-pitched laughter in his ears.

"Harry!!! Are you okay?"

"Wha-"

Harry opened his eyes and looked at his surroundings. He was in his room, on the floor with his best friend staring down at him looking very concerned.

"What is going on Ron? Why am I laying on the floor?"

Ron looked at him with his eyes full of his own confusion about why Harry was on the ground.

"I don't know Harry. I came back from lunch and found you on the ground. I thought that you were dead or something."

"No, all I remember is my scar burning again and…" Harry trailed off.

"What?" Ron asked, wanting to know what his friend was thinking.

"…hearing Voldemort laughing." Harry answered, sitting up and rubbing his forehead.

Ron cringed at the sound of the true name of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Harry noticed this and heaved a sigh.

"You really need to stop being so uptight about his name Ron, I mean Hermoine says it now. You don't want to be more of a wimp than a girl do you?" Harry smirk, getting to his feet.

"I am not more of a wimp than she is. I just have the habit or do you forget that everyone in our world cringes at that name except you, Hermoine, the teachers and the dark wizards?" Ron tried to justify his reaction.

Harry laughed and headed towards the door to the dormitory.

"Where are you going?" Ron asked walking up to him.

"I have to speak to McGonagall. This can't be a good sign. I mean, I gained the power to block my mind from him last year and if I can hear him now, it means that he has gained power, and now that Dumbledore is gone, every little hint that we have to what Voldemort is up to is needed." Ron winced again at Harry's words. "Ron, I am serious, get over the name thing."

Ron glared at him, but followed him down the staircase and out of the common room anyway. When they reached the statue outside McGonagall's office, the staircase behind it began to ascend without the password. The boys climbed the stairs and knocked on the door.

"Come in," came the familiar voice of their old Transfiguration teacher and new Headmistress of Hogwart's.

They entered and Harry felt a pang in his stomach. The last time he had been in this office was last year before Dumbledore was killed by Snape, whom Harry always thought was a spy for the dark side, not theirs.

He looked around the room. McGonagall had kept all of the old Headmasters things on the shelves and added a few minor details that showed the office belonged to her. The portraits on the walls looked intently at him and Harry noticed a new frame directly behind the headmistress's desk with the name Albus Dumbledore, engraved at the bottom. There was something missing from the frame though, Dumbledore.

A loud throat clearing brought Harry back to reality and he realized that both Professor McGonagall and Ron were staring at him.

"Umm…" was all that Harry could muster at that moment.

"Why have you come to my office Harry?" Professor McGonagall asked, looking at him with confusion burning in her eyes.

"Oh yes, that." Harry commented, "Well…" He was lost at how to tell the professor of his strange daydream.

"We came to tell you about something Harry heard." Ron helped his friend out.

"What did you hear Potter?"

Harry sighed and looked around the room once more, making sure everything was real.

He looked back to the Headmistress and explained the events that led up to him on the floor with Ron looking down at him.

"You see Professor, I was laying on my bed staring at the ceiling and thinking about the impending danger when my scar started burning and I heard him in my head. Voldemort was laughing about something and I could hear it. Next thing I know the laughter is gone and I heard Ron's voice. That is when I woke up and I was on the floor with Ron hovering over me."

The woman studied Harry with the look that he had said something very scary. She walked over to him from behind her desk and placed her hands on his shoulders.

"Look me in the eye Harry," she instructed.

Harry looked at the elderly witch, who studied his eyes. Harry felt that for some reason he should not blink, so he didn't.

Professor McGonagall released Harry and stood back.

"Harry, come with me, we need to go see Madam Pomfrey." She instructed, opening her office door.

The two boys walked out of the study and down the staircase, McGonagall right behind them.

"Weasley, you should go back to the common room and let Miss Granger know about what has happened. I will be taking Harry to the hospital wing." She instructed the redhead.

Ron looked at her blankly.

"But Profess-" He was cut off by her deadly glare.

"Go now Weasley, or it will be detention." She warned.

Ron turned and quickly began his journey back to the common room to find Hermoine.

Professor McGonagall turned back to Harry, who started to open his mouth to ask why he had to go to the infirmary, but was cut off before he could speak a word.

"No questions Potter. You will have time after we have Madam Pomfrey look at you."

She took him by the arm and led him down the hall towards the staircase and the floor with the Hospital Wing.