"hello" speech
hello thought
Alex POV
When I woke up that morning i never suspected that my life would change so drastically in just a few hours. I went through my normal routine; got up and showered, got dressed and headed downstairs to the tantalising aroma of a traditional English breakfast.
"Morning Alex, did you sleep well?"
That was Jack, the housekeeper and my legal guardian of 3 years. She arrived here from America 7 years ago and has been the housekeeper until my Uncle Ian was murdered, after which she became my guardian. She was always worried about me, especially after my latest mission that left me with a broken leg, a fractured arm and numerous cuts and scrapes - one or two of which were sure to leave scars. It also left me with nightmares of torture and pain. I preferred not to talk about it.
"Yeah, I slept fine"
"Good. Oh and they want you to go in today. Sounds important - Blunt wants to see you as soon as possible"
They were MI5. I am still their youngest agent at 17, but they recruited me at age 14 just after the afore-mentioned Uncle, who was also a spy, had been killed on the way back from a mission in Cornwall.
"'K. I'll going after I've finished this" I replied, motioning to the plate of food Jack had just pushed over to me.
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Soon enough, I was on my way to the bank building that hid the agency. It was a cold morning and the bullet wound i received 3 years ago was aching. When i got inside the building I waved to the receptionist who smiled and buzzed up that i had arrived. By the time i reached the right floor, Crawley was already waiting for me.
"Morning, Rider" he greeted and i replied with a nod. As we walked down the silent corridor i couldn't help but wonder what was so important that they had to interrupt my recovery period. I emerged from my thoughts to notice that we had arrived outside Blunt's office and i could hear the familiar voices of Mrs Jones an Mr Alan Blunt himself. Crawley knocked on the door and, without waiting for an answer, backed away.
"Come in" was heard through the frosted glass door. I entered and took the seat left open for me.
"OK, What do you want?" The ice in my voice rivalled the cold outside. Blunt, being used to that tone from most of his agents, was unphased.
"we have a... mission of sorts for you. Now, the Prime minister has many political connections and it is one of these we will be assisting. There is a second british government you see, for a second civilisation who live in this country but rarely encounter us. They have whole other lives totally unrelated to what goes on in this country. The leader of this government is called Minister Scrigemour."
"what does this have to do with anything?"
It was Mrs Jones that answered this question,"Well Alex, this is where it gets a little unusual. You see, these other people who are under that government are not integrated with us for a reason. They're magical. The Government is called the Ministry of Magic and the civilisation is home to Witches and Wizards. They are in the middle of a war. As you are well aware, there are some people who simply do not agree with the views of others. A rather large group of wizards, mainly the Purebloods - wizards with no non-magical blood. They believe that muggles (Non magicals such as us) should not be alive. In their wolrd they are know as deatheaters and their ruler is named Lord Voldemort. Then there is the light side who believe that we are needed to help bring new blood into the wizrding world. Some muggles give birth to children with magic. They are called Muggleborns or, as the deatheaters call them, Mudbloods. New blood is needed to prevent the Wizarding population from dying out. There are also halfbloods who are the result of a Pureblood and a muggle/muggleborn relationship."
"We will let you take the mission file home with you to read through. We will be sending you to meet the people concerned in this matter in a weeks time, so please make sure to pack enough clothes to last you a month or two"
Mrs Jones then passed me a manilla folder which by the thickness and weight, contained some rather detailed information about this new world.
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The whole way home i was deep in thought. There was a whole new world out there and I'd never once suspected it. There was a war going on, for god's sake! How were they preventing this from entering the 'Muggle' world? If these 'Deatheaters' were out to kill us, how come we hadn't heard about it? My mind was whirring as i walked home completely oblivious to the nipping cold i was so aware about only an hour or so before.
When finally did get home i headed straight up to my room, completely ignoring Jack's inquiry of the meeting. I just sat on my bed waiting for it to actually sink in.
There was another world in this country.
They were magical.
They were in the middle of a war.
I was going to be meeting some of these people in a weeks time.
That's when i remembered that i had a rather large folder sitting on my desk that i needed to read. he picked up the file and pulled out the first page:
In the year 1980 a prophecy was made Stating that Lord Voldemort would be defeated by someone he marks as his equal and who's parents have defied him 3 times. This person was to be born at the end of July that year, according to the prophecy. This prophecy could've related to two children. One was named Neville Longbottom, the other Harry Potter. Lord Voldemort felt threatened by this so set out to destroy this threat. In 1981 Frank and Alice Longbottom - Neville's Parents - were later found driven to madness by the cruciatus curse which is a curse that causes immense pain and if the victim is under the spell for too long it can cause madness like with the longbottom family. However, Harry potters parents went into hiding with their one year old son, Harry. They used the Fidelius Charm. This charm means that only one person can tell others the location of their safe house. Others could know, but not say it when they were not in the safe house at the time. The chosen secret keeper was Peter Pettigrew, friend of Mr James Potter. He was chosen instead of the more likely candidate, best friend Sirius Black. He was not chosen as he was the 'more obvious choice. However, Peter betrayed them to the Voldemort, who mudered James on the spot. When Harry's mother was mudered, she was protecting Harry which is why when the killing curse was aimed at Harry, he did not die but did recieve a Lightning bolt scar on his forehead. Voldemort was 'killed when the spell rebounded off Harry and back to him. Sirius Black, who was thought to be the secret keeper was thrown into azkaban (Wizarding Prison) but not before supposedly killing 13 muggles and Pettigrew only leaving Pettigrew's finger not destroyed.
When Harry was 13, Sirius Black escaped from prison. It was revealed a year later that Pettigrew was indeed alive and Sirius was declared innocent after Pettigrew was captured and confessed under the truth potion veritaserum that he committed all the crimes Sirius was convicted for.
At the age of 14, Lord Voldemort was ressurected with the help of one of his servants, Rosier. Harry was kidnapped from a competition when he was competing against wizards and Witches from other schools. He represented Hogwarts, the only magical school in the UK.
His blood was forcefully taken from him by rosier and used in the potion to give Voldemort a body.
Now that Voldemort has risen again the war has restarted full force and Harry Potter, now aged 16 is in need of training. He is already skilled in magical combat but is requesting he has the ability to fight hand to hand and with weapons. We believe this is a wise descision and therefore we request that you teach Mr Potter these skills.
The rest of the file contained information about the major figure heads in the war - good and bad - and what I was going to be teaching to this Harry. I looked at the sheet and noticed that there was enough to last for a whole school year! However, they did say they would supply the equipment and suitable clothes. All i had to do was turn up.
The criteria were:
Hand to hand combat
Use of guns
Use of knives
It didn't look like much but i remember how long it took me to master those skills and decided that it would be easy to fill a year with the chosen subjects.
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Harry POV
I was stood before the mirror, trying to decide if i looked smart enough to meet the Minister, the agent appointed to teach me, the Head of Special opperations and the Muggle Primeminister. I was dressed in Deep Green robes that had the Potter Crest on it. They had no other decorations making them look sharp and were made of an expensive fabric that was made to make the wearer looking distinguished and was perfect for the situation. He reminded himself to thank Sirius again for these were his only smart robes. He had received them for Christmas the year before.
He exited the dorm to wait with his friends until an auror came to escort him to the ministry.
"Oh! Harry you look amazing! you should wear robes like this more often. And you managed to get your hair to lie flat! Wow!" Hermione gushed in an unusual bout of Girlyness. I blushed at the praise, "Hermione, i don't think i could look like this everyday! I'd be like Malfoy - stood in front of the mirror for hours everyday! Plus, these bloody contacts took forever to get in and they hurt!"
Hermione let out a little giggle before stating, "I'm so glad you're taking this extra class, even if it's not academic. At least you'll be able to protect yourself the muggle way, you know, if you need to..."
Ron, who had been silently watching the exchange, decided that he was going to but in with, "But Harry, Another class, really? I mean do you actually want to do more work? You're starting to sound like Hermione!" This received an indignant screech from said person and and was followed by a quiet 'Owwww' from Ron when Hermione hit him.
That was when the portrait opened to reveal McGonnagal and Tonks.
"Wotcher, Harry" Tonks grinned before gesturing for me to follow her. We used the floo in Headmaster Dumbledore's office, who was away again, to get to the ministry before i headed up to the minister's office. From there the Minister and I used a port key to arrive in the MI5 building.
We were shown to a board room by a quiet man with brown hair and brown eyes - quite an unremarkable man, really. When we arrived, everyone else had already been shown to the room. Minister Scrigemour introduced everyone.
"Mr Potter, this is the Prime minister, The Head of Special operations, Mr Blunt and that there is Mr Alex Rider. Everybody, I am, as some may know, Minister Scrigemour and this is Mr Harry Potter"
I looked around the room at everyone present.
The Prime minister was a rather large man. He has short mousey brown hair and a slight moustache. He was wearing and expensive looking suit and looked rather nervous when Scrigemour had started speaking.
Mr Blunt, however was rather thin. He had grey hair, grey skin, grey eyes and was wearing a grey suit. He seemed overall quite a strict, boring man.
However, the person that really caught my attention was Alex Rider. He had dark blonde hair that had a slight curl to it and was wearing it down to just below the ears. His eyes were a warm brown, despite the cold and detached look in them. From what i could tell, he was muscled under the expensive black suit he was wearing. I also noticed the subtle bulge of hidden weapons place in the suit. When i looked back at his face, i saw him watching me and quickly averted my eyes.
Mr Blunt cleared his throat and said, "Yes, well. We have arranged all the equipment Mr Rider will need to carry out these lessons to be sent to you within the week. We hope that this training will help young Mr Potter here in the long run."
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Alex POV
After two hours of discussing the different parts of the agreement, the meeting ended and i waited behind with Scrigemour and Potter. I had already said goodbye to jack, who had been in tears at the thought of not seeing me until next July.
"Ok, Mr Rider, we will be travelling by Portkey, we will tell you when you need to let go." Following that statement, Scrigemour pulled a rubber duck out of a red bag and held it out. Potter grabbed onto it so i did the same. Instantly, i regretted it when there was a tugging feeling in my navel and suddenly, we were moving. Someone shouted to me to let go, and i did so willingly, trying to get as far away from the duck as possible. Next thing i know, i'm impacting with the ground and wow, that hurt!
I looked up to see Potter and Scrigemour on there feet. The younger held out his hand to help me up and i gladly took it. Soon enough a woman with bubblegum pink hair turned up at started chattering at Potter. She led them to a fire place where Potter proceeded to take a handful of some oddly coloured powder, throw it into the fire and step into it whilst shouting "Professor Dumbledore's Office." I stood there, staring at the place where Potter had stood just seconds before. Suddenly, a hand landed on my shoulder and i spun round and raised my hand which contained the knife i had concealed up my sleeve.
The woman from earlier put her hands up surrender and grinned, "Sorry, kid. Just wanted to say, the floo's free and i'll be going at the same time as you, you know, to make sure you get there and stuff. Oh, by the way i'm Nymphadora Tonks, but i hate my first name so everybody just calls me Tonks."
Slowly, I lowered my arm, and eyed her suspiciously, "Alex Rider"
Tonks took my arm and pulled me into the fireplace. It was only then i noticed the powder that Potter had used earlier was in her hand. She shouted the same thing as Potter and suddenly they were spinning through a smoky tunnel. Fireplace after fireplace whooshed past until they they tumbled out of a fireplace into what i assumed was Professor Dumbledore's Office. It was filled with unusual whirring objects that put me ill at ease.
"At least he has an excuse to fall out of the floo" a laughing voice jested. My head snapped up at the voice and i took a moment to actually look at the person in front of me. Harry Potter was a very handsome teen indeed. His hair was slicked back with gel and of a pitch black colour. He had large veridian eyes and pale skin. He was short but had lean muscles, which was apparent even through the thick robes.
Tonks gave the boy a playful glare and cleared my throat before asking, "Excuse me, could you please show me to my room"
At this point, Tonks was preparing to leave. She waved at Potter and then turned to me to say, "It was nice to meet you, Rider", before disappearing through the fireplace.
Potter then regained my attention by mumbling, "right this way..."
The way to my room was silent and i took the opportunity to admire my surroundings. Eventually, we reached a portrait of a knight who introduced himself as Sir Cadogan before enquiring after the password.
"The password is 'Nobility'" Harry informed me before turning back to the knight and repeating the password. The portrait swung forward silently to reveal a living space. The walls were left uncovered, showing the old stonework of the castle and the floor was covered in a soft looking carpet in a deep turquoise. The curtains were of the same colour and decorated with lighter turquoise leaves. There was a sofa and a matching armchair that where of a beige colour and had brown and turquoise cushions on it. The coffee table was made of mahogany, as was the fireplace. There was a door leading off this living area into a bedroom. The walls were decorated with a neutral cream colour, as was the floor. There was a window, revealing a magnificent view of the school grounds. There was a bed made of a light wood, as were the bedside tables and the wardrobe that took up most of the wall adjacent to the door. The bedcover was a rich red which matched the curtains and the accents on the cream walls. A second door lead into a bathroom with a matching theme of cram and red.
After exploring my new living area, i sat down on the armchair and Potter took the sofa. He gave me a map of the school and informed me that dinner would be in an hour in the great hall. He also warned me that the other students would be rather curious about me and that there would be a big introduction for me. Oh God...