It was nearing midnight on Privet Drive and the only light that was still on was the one located at house number four on the second floor in the spare bedroom. The occupant of the bedroom, one Harry James Potter, more commonly known as the boy who lived, was sitting at his broken down desk, rereading for what must have been the twentieth time the day's copy of the Daily Prophet. He skimmed over the part where it talked about how Head of the Magical Law Enforcement, Amelia Bones, had been named the new Minister of Magic. It had been a nearly unanimous vote after Albus Dumbledore had nominated her.

Harry thought about the previous Minister and it made his muscles clench in anger. If he ever saw Fudge again he didn't know if he would punch him or hex him. The idea of finding out how Hermione had cursed Marietta Edgecombe, and then spelling out the words "I'm Fucking Stupid" on his face was tempting. He wondered if anyone had checked the man's left arm for the dark mark before they tossed him out. Over the previous year he had been more helpful in allowing Lord Voldemort to move around unimpeded than any of his inner circle. Not that his inner circle could do anything anymore, most of them, besides Bellatrix, were now sitting in their own private cells in Azkaban. Harry wasn't under any illusion though, he knew that they wouldn't be there long. Voldemort had managed to break his followers out once, and he would do it again, even easier now that he had all of the dementors under his influence.

He dropped the newspaper and, stood up and stretched, trying to get the aches out of his body from sitting in the hard chair for so long. Looking out the window he could see movement out by the bushes. Knowing it was one of the members of the order disillusioned babysitting him, he walked over and plopped down on his bed. Trying to readjust himself on the mattress that felt like solid concrete, his gaze fell upon the photos on his bedside table. The first one depicted the two people who had been his first real friends in his life, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. It was a picture from their fourth year, during the celebration after the second task in the lake. The next picture down the line was of his parents when they were right out of Hogwarts. It was just them standing around in somewhere that looked like Hogsmeade, without a care in the world. He doubted whether he would ever have a look of being care free on his face ever again. That feeling was only reinforced even more when he looked at the final picture on the table. In the picture were his parents standing with largest smiles he had ever seen, in their wedding robes, and right next to them, was the handsome face affixed with the permanent mischievous look of his godfather, Sirius Black.

Unfortunately, the keyword in that phrase was "was". He couldn't believe how stupid he had been, flying to the Ministry of Magic on bloody thestrals. If he would have listened to Hermione instead of the word of a psychotic house elf none of his friends would have been injured and Sirius wouldn't of come to his aid. He thought about putting that picture away because whenever he woke up from what little sleep he managed he would look at it and it would be like someone punching him in the gut. The guilt was enough to make him go crazy. He was guilty, yes, but there were other people to blame as well. First there was Snape who could have tried to help him while he was being tortured by Umbridge, not that the lack of help surprised him really. Then of course was that crazy bitch Bellatrix Lestrange who had knocked Sirius through the veil, and who he promised himself he would kill at some point in the near future. A year ago he was pretty sure that he would have been incapable of killing someone, but now he thought he could do it easily and there would be no effect on his conscience. And that was the point of the matter, he would have to kill someone, as stated by that damn prophecy that Dumbledore had sprung on him after the catastrophe at the Ministry. He was the last person who he blamed for Sirus' death and Dumbledore himself had admitted it. There was no doubt that he was still royally pissed at his headmaster and wished that he had done more damage to his office, but it was hard to stay mad and not forgive him. Dumbledore had only tried to protect him because he cared and didn't want the burden of the world on his shoulders. The next time he saw the Headmaster he would definitely talk to him and tell him he was forgiven because now was not the time to hold grudges.

However much he wished that the prophecy wasn't real it didn't matter because it was real and he was going to have to kill Lord Voldemort. The only problem now was that he had no idea how that was going to happen. One thing was for sure, that was that he had studied more in the two weeks that he had been back at Privet Drive then he had in all the previous years combined. He knew so many curses and spells at this point that he would give Hermione's mind a run for her money. The first thing he had done when he returned from Hogwarts was send Hedwig to Flourish and Blotts and ordered every book on dueling and Defense Against Arts that was available. He had made it through half of those books already as it was away of not thinking about the loss of his godfather. There was also the fact that he lived with the Dursley's and they ordered him to stay in his bedroom anyway so there wasn't much else to do. He looked at his watched and realized it was already past one in the morning so he sank back into his pillow and fitfully fell asleep.

"Boy wake the hell up and get down here!"

Lovely way to be woken up in the morning Harry thought as he stretched out allowing his ancient blanket to fall to the floor. Looking at his watch he was surprised to see it was nine and that he had managed to sleep through the night. Getting up quickly and throwing on a pair of jeans he headed out of his room and down the stairs.

"Took you long enough," Vernon shouted as he appeared on the bottom step.

Feeling rather good this morning he answered, "What can I do for you on this glorious morning Vernon?" He had to fight to hide his laugh as his Uncle's face turned its normal shade of purple.

"Don't you get smart with me boy! We're going away for the week on vacation and you're staying here. Your old enough to stay here by yourself so that's what you'll be doing. There best be no freakishness used in this house while we're gone or else there will be hell to pay, even with your freaky friends warnings, got it?"

It was like Christmas had come early, he was barely hiding the huge grin that was trying to spread over his face. "Of course Uncle, no freakishness allowed. Are you planning on leaving me food or should I leave the house and go beg the neighbors?"

"There's enough food to last you the week so you better keep your scrawny behind in this house." He left without another word and closed the front door behind him.

Listening to the sound of the car driving away he made his way into wonderfully Dursley free kitchen. Fixing himself some toast and juice he sat down at the kitchen table. It was hard to believe that he was going to be left alone for a whole week. He had free reign on the entire house including the television in the living room. Deciding that was exactly where he was going to start he cleaned up the small mess he made and walked into the living room. This was the room in the house that he hated the most. You would think that you were walking into a museum dedicated just to photos of Dudley Dursley. It was eerie when everywhere you looked there was Dudley staring at you on each wall. Finding the remote to the television, he turned it on and switched to the muggle news station that he had listened the previous summer. It was pretty much what he expected. Unexplained deaths, disappearances, and utter chaos were in all the headlines. The war had finally begun.

Having all of the depressing new that he could handle, he switched off the television and made his way back up the stairs to his bedroom. The first thing he noticed when he got back was that Hedwig was intently staring at something in the room and when he turned there was another owl sitting on his dresser. Moving over to the dresser he reached out and untied the letter from the owl. As soon as it was detached it took off back out of the window that had been left open for Hedwig. Looking down at the writing on the outside he noticed the Gringott's seal on it and wondered what business he could possibly have with the goblins.

Mr. Harry James Potter,

It is with our greatest sympathies that we must speak with you at your convenience to discuss the will of the late Sirius Black. Normally it is not the custom for a representative to make trips to a client's residence, but seeing as you are a significant holder in our bank we will make an exception. Please send back a reply with an acceptable time for a meeting.

Griphook

Gringott's Representative

He dropped onto his bed and simply stared at the piece of paper. So far he had been doing a good job of suppressing his emotions, but he didn't think he would be able to if he had to listen to Sirius' will. Anything that was in it wouldn't make up for the person he lost. Resigning himself to the inevitable, he retrieved a blank piece of parchment from his school trunk and wrote a quick reply for the goblin to show up tomorrow. Hedwig, realizing she was needed, flew out of the cage and over to his arm. After attaching the letter she hooted and quickly made her way out into the warm summer air.

The stress of what he had just dealt with took all his energy out of him so he considered lying back down. That plan didn't last long as there was a knock at the front door. He doubted it was a Death Eater who was so kindly knocking on the front door, but that didn't stop him from slipping his wand into the back pocket of his jeans. Quickly making his way downstairs he place his hand on his wand and pulled open the front door. It wasn't a Death Eater, but it was somebody he wasn't expecting to see soon. Professor Dumbledore stood at the door looking extremely odd in an old, grey muggle suit. His beard was still as large as ever it was impossible to tell what color tie he was wearing if he was even wearing one at all.

"Hello Professor, come in," he said standing aside and motion for Dumbledore to enter. Dumbledore nodded and smiled, gracefully making his way into the house. They made there way back into the living room and found seats.

"So how are you Harry?" Dumbledore started concernedly.

"As best as can be expected sir. I'm just trying to keep myself busy," he answered honestly.

"That's good Harry, it helps to stay busy and not dwell on things that as much as we would like to, cannot be changed. Again I can't even begin to say how sorry I am for not keeping you inform and not disclosing the details of the prophecy," he stated solemnly.

Trying to keep his emotions in check he said, "It's alright Professor I forgive you and I'm sorry for destroying your office. I know I shouldn't have gone to the Ministry, but there's nothing I can do about it now and there are more important things to worry about."

"That is a very mature way of looking at things Harry and do not worry about the damage you did to my office. I believe it is time that we start to prepare you for what lies ahead, something that I should have started a long time ago. The order informed me that your relatives have vacated for the week so I thought that we could train while they are gone."

"That's sounds great sir, but you should know there's a goblin from Gringott's coming tomorrow to discuss Sirius's will.

"That's fine Harry, we can manage to work around that. You wouldn't mind though if I were here when the goblin came would you?"

"Not at all sir."

"Excellent Harry, now we have things of great importance that we need to discuss. I would like to start by learning from my mistakes and informing you of the happenings in the wizarding world. Lord Voldemort has gained supporters in many different countries and I fear that he has amassed his own army. The werewolves, giants, dementors, and vampires have all joined his ranks. I believe it is only a matter of time before he strikes out and takes control of the government. I have done my best to stabilize it for now. Nobody can say for certain what is going to happen, but it does not look good."

"Is there anything we can do sir?"

"I am going to do my best to train you while we still have time, but I fear it will not be long. Now you must listen to me Harry, Lord Voldemort still does not know of the prophecy and it must remain that way. Do not tell anyone unless they are willing to swear a wizard's oath to you to not tell. I will not lie to you; I fear that I will not be around much longer. The other day I received the severed head of Professor Snape on my desk at Hogwarts along with a note saying that I was next. Tom will come after me, he knows that I am not what I once was. If something happens to me Harry, you must escape and go away. It must be you who defeats the Dark Lord, but you are not ready yet. Before he comes for me I will move all of my possession to a place where only you can locate. There are many materials that will be helpful to your quest. I have managed to convince the Minister to remove all of the tracking devices for underage magic and destroy them so you will not be targeted."

Harry just sat on the sofa in the living room trying to act like a sponge and absorb all of the information that was just revealed. It was substantial to go from knowing nothing to knowing everything. The idea that the Ministry was going to fall and that Voldemort now had an army was disturbing. The fact that Dumbledore was expecting to die and be defeated was earth shattering to him. Dumbledore was his mentor, his teacher and the closest thing to a family member he had. He was the greatest wizard in the world, he couldn't die.

"Sir why don't you just hide with me, don't let him find you? We could wait until I'm ready and then go after him together," he almost pleaded.

Dumbledore smiled and shook his head, "No, if we both disappear together then he will put all of his efforts into finding us. He knows that you have the ability to thwart him, but he does not know you are the only one. You will be a secondary objective to him. Hopefully, when he comes after me I will be able to injure him enough that he will require time to heal and that will distract him from you." Seeing the sullen expression on his face he continued, "Do not worry Harry, I have lived a long, successful life. I do not fear death and it is not the end, but just another journey to partake in. If you remember anything at all that I have told you, just remember that your power over Voldemort is your ability to love. Figure out how to harness that power and you will beat him, I know it."

"Thank you sir, I just hope you're right." They sat there in silence for a few moments, each of them just collecting their thoughts. "Now what did you want to work on today sir?"

"Well, I don't believe you will have to worry about occlumency any longer, because Voldemort would dare not try to enter your mind again after the experience at the Ministry. The skill that we will work on today will be most important to you in the future and that is Apparation. You will need to be able to move quickly from place to place in the event you need to escape or there is an emergency somewhere. It's rather simple once you get used to the feeling. Now go ahead and stand up and I want you to concentrate on your location that you intend to appear in, in this case, the kitchen. Think about it then use your magic to push you to the location. Go ahead and give it a try."

Harry stood up from the couch, wand in hand and cleared his mind of everything other than the kitchen. He concentrated on his magic that he felt every time he fired a spell and took a step forward. He opened his eyes which he didn't remember closing and saw that he was standing in the Dursley's immaculate kitchen. He decided to try it again, only this time focusing on the living room. Taking a step forward he appeared right in front of a smiling Dumbledore.

"Excellent work Harry, as I said it gets easier after you do it for a while. Now I think I have kept you long enough, I would like to give you one of my books to start reading now as it may be useful in the coming times. Start reading and we will work on it tomorrow before the Gringott's representative arrives." Harry nodded and accepted the book that Dumbledore had pulled out of his robes. As soon a he looked up from the book there was almost silent pop and he was left alone in the Dursley's living room.