Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to Jo. My history textbook format belongs to… whoever writes those things.
A/N: I wrote this because I was searching my U.S. history textbook for some unknown fact about the civil war and I realized how they had managed to de-humanize the people they were writing about. It made me want to write a fanfiction, since after the war the Order of the Phoenix would be like the Sons of Liberty; old dead dudes. Another statistic. If you live in the U.S., hopefully you didn't miss the analogy up there. If you don't, look it up in wikipedia. Yes, it starts and ends in the middle of sentences. So do book pages. Deal with it.
Enjoy the 500-word drabble.
died. Those in the Order of the Phoenix remain known today as some of the greatest men and women to fight for the cause of the light. At one time they were a group completely separate from, though including, aurors. Now, in honor of their services, the Order is now an elite group of the aforementioned wizarding police officers.
A voice from the past:
Letter from an order member to an unknown recipient
To whoever is reading this:
I sincerely hope that by the time this letter is read the war is over and Voldemort is defeated. Something tells me, however, that a seventeen-year-old kid (or, well, I guess technically I'm an adult now) cannot defeat the most powerful wizard alive. Now that Professor Dumbledore is dead, that title rightfully belongs to Voldemort, so stop fooling yourselves.
My duty is to fight for the light. It has been ever since that night on Halloween. I am the one to save the whole of the wizarding world. It dawned on me shortly after the battle in the Chamber of Secrets. What idiots would put all their hope in a one-year-old child? And how could they not have seen that a sadistic bastard of his nature would not let himself die as long as it was in his power. As far as I know, being evil and having no heart are not Slytherin traits, but slyness and self-preservation are and those were the things that everyone should have looked for. Honestly, a mass murderer would not exactly go around saying "Here I am, I killed your family, come take revenge!" No, he would want to stay alive as long as possible.
That was made horribly clear during the unicorn incident in the Forbidden Forest. No sane man would drink unicorn blood to survive. They just wouldn't sink that low. I never said that Voldemort was sane, however, or a man, so that could explain it.
Every year, something new happened that should have gotten me killed but didn't. First year it was the troll and the stone. Second year it was the basilisk, third the dementors, fourth the graveyard. Fifth year there was the battle in the ministry, sixth year there was the battle of Hogwarts and the horcrux hunt. I've cheated death eight times, at least. Who am I to say I should keep on living? I'll die, sure, but better to die a martyr than a coward.
Isn't it funny that the job of light is to chase away the shadows, while if light didn't shine there wouldn't be any shadows to begin with? As much as that question hurts, I'm proud to keep the chase going. See you beyond the veil.
-Harry
As is shown in the letter above, the legal age of adulthood was much lower than it is now. It is also clear, due to references such as Forbidden Forest, Chamber of Secrets, and Albus Dumbledore as a professor, that this was a Hogwarts student. Obviously, things
So... how was it? Was it as bad as I think it is? Ha... I just wasted five minutes of your life.