Wolfmasterz - Probably the same wand. I'm not sure yet.
Kamorie - Lol, not sentimental at all. I got so sad writing it *Is ashamed* Tom said that on purpose, to mess with Dumbledore's head. Unfortunately, if I got through with the plotline I'm thinking of, it'll backfire. Doh!
Books-A-Plenty - *Grins* I'm getting pickier with my chapters. This update's quick, though, so enjoy. :P
Samara Marx - Harry will not irrationally hate all Gryffindors. (That'd make him worse than Ron with the Slytherins!) It's quite silly when people do that, I agree. Of course a few of them he won't like, because honestly, some of them are just plain dumb. But some of the definite ones he will like are, for example, the Weasley Twins, and Neville. (Always loved that little guy)
Cally Chloe - Oh, how I love long reviews. :P Thank you very much! I won't give much away (I've done too much of that already in this A/N) but I will say you're correct on some of your 'What-If's'.
Harry Potter and friends do not belong to me. J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros and whoever else owns this little franchise.
Please read, and of course, review. :D This chapter is short, but I updated fast, so don't eat me.
Harry Potter Alive? You-Know-Who Strikes Again!
After the recent return of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, the Wizarding World has been in havoc. We were all wondering the same thing: just where is our Savoir?
A week ago, You-Know-Who and his followers attacked the Ministry Of Magic. They were apparently looking for a Prophecy, concerning You-Know-Who and the Boy-Who-Lived, Harry Potter. After Potter's disappearance from his relatives home several months ago, in which his Muggle guardians were found dead, and the child traumatized, the Wizarding World feared the worst. Especially after The Daily Prophet revealed that blood that was confirmed to be Harry Potter's was found in the kitchen.
Albus Dumbledore has revealed that not only is our Savoir alive, but also that he is being held prisoner by the Dark Lord himself. The Headmaster of Hogwarts, and defeater of Dark Lord Grindelwald, had this to say:
"Unfortunately, I can confirm that young Harry Potter has indeed been kidnapped and held captive by Lord V*******t. Whereas Mr. Potter was alive when I saw him, he was under disguise, probably forced on him, and looked terrified. He was openly crying. I cannot imagine what terrors V*******t must be inflicting on the boy, but we are doing our best to rescue him. I would urge anyone who has any information on his whereabouts to contact me immediately. If anyone sees Harry in public, take him to Hogwarts straight away. You may just save his life."
We at the Daily Prophet give our condolences to friends of the Potter family, including one Sirius Black. Since Mr. Black was found innocent of all crimes recently, and given parole, he is no longer on the run from the Ministry. Black is Harry's godfather, and we can only imagine what he must be feeling right now. We wish the Ministry the best of luck finding our young Savoir, and our prayers are with Harry Potter, wherever he may be.
Article by Rita Skeeter
That, my friends, is from the Daily Prophet's front page. I questioned Tom long and hard about Sirius Black, and he told me that Black was innocent. Peter Pettigrew, a Death Eater I had yet to meet, (Tom called him a 'pathetic mess') turned traitor. I don't think I'll like him very much when we do meet. He doesn't live here like the other hiding Death Eaters, 'cause Tom won't give him a room. He said that he told Pettigrew his Animagus form is a rat, so he could find a nice gutter to sleep in. Pleasant.
I finally got bored enough to risk a trip into Little Hangleton the next week. Tom made me disguise myself, since Dumbledore knew I was alive now. I decided to have a little fun, as I always do with my transforming.
"Hey Tom, what colour were your eyes before they turned…umm, red." I asked, staring at myself in a mirror I had made him transfigure.
"Brown. Why?" he asked, glancing up from his parchment.
I looked up at him, giving him his own smirk. I had changed my appearance to look like what I imagine he looked like age six and three quarters. Admittedly, I didn't have to change much. Sharper face, neater hair, different eye colour.
He blinked. "That's…very creepy." he pointed out, looking a little disturbed. "You're getting better at your Metamorphmagus transformations, though, so kudos." Yeah. He was mocking me there. I could tell.
I stuck out my tongue at him. "You're just jealous because I can pull off your look better than you." Then I fled the room before he could hex me.
I passed the graveyard on the way to the town, and was surprised to see a Tom Riddle buried here. Senior, though. Don't worry, Tom isn't dead yet. The grave was pretty wrecked, it was clear no one bothered to visit anymore. Tom told me he killed his father, and enjoyed every moment of it. I said I could perfectly imagine him axing down the door of the house and grinning, "Here's Tommy!" Needless to say, he didn't get it.
I went on down, and passed a rundown shack of a house. I felt magic trying to push me away, and remembered Tom warning me not to go into the wrecked cottage. I turned and ran into the town.
It was a modern little village, with various grocery shops and joined houses. I went into one of the newsagents, which was basically deserted bar an old lady trying to decide between full-fat milk or semi-skimmed. There was a brown-haired teenage girl behind the counter, blowing bubbles with her gum and flicking through a fashion magazine that looked like the ones Petunia used to read, but never buy from.
I wanted chocolate, I decided. Wizard chocolate was great and all, but it could never compare to Dairy Milk. Then I realized I had no money. I couldn't just steal it, and I didn't really want to use magic. I eyed the old lady, who still hadn't made that all important decision between the milk. Putting on my most pitiable face, I shuffled over to her.
"Excuse me, ma'am." I said in a quiet, hesitant voice.
She glanced up from the milk, and smiled at me warmly. Obviously a grandmother, then. "Hello, dear." she greeted me in a friendly tone. "My, aren't you a cute child!"
I nodded, eyes glued to the floor. "I-I really want a chocolate bar, but I have no money…" I trailed off shyly, glancing at her. She looked sympathetic.
"Oh, poor dear. I know what a chocolate craving feels like." she said, nodding understandingly. "Didn't your parents give you any pocket money?"
My lower lip trembled slightly. "M-My Mummy and Daddy are dead, miss." I confessed sadly, and if possible, her pitying look ten folded.
"Oh! I'm so sorry dear…here, let me just…" She reached into her purse, and pulled out a five pound note. "Treat yourself, dearie, you deserve it."
I sent her my most charming smile. "That you, miss!" I chirped gratefully, earning me another warm smile. I practically skipped over to the candy counter, and took a few chocolate bars. Hell, I wasn't going to be down here for a while. May as well stock up.
I was about to go back home again, satisfied grin on my face and chocolate bars in hand, (Stupidly, I had refused a bag) I saw a group of kids who looked about 8-10 years old gathered around something on the ground. Curiously, I made my way over.
I peeked around the tallest girl, and saw why they were all so mesmerised looking. Laying on the ground was some sort of bird. It was jet-black, with a sprinkle of blindingly white feathers on it's top layer. It had strangely violet eyes, and when it caught my own eyes, it burst into purple flames. Startled, we all jumped back. Merlin, I had just killed a bird by looking at it! That doesn't help a guys self-esteem much.
The flames cleared away, and a shrivelled looking baby bird was laying among the ashes of the last bird. I stuffed my hand-luggage the pockets of my robes, (Tom never said I had to dress Muggle, right?) and picked it up. There was some weird sort of magic thrumming around me. It was amazingly strong, and soothing. But it soon died down, and the bird starting trilling a beautiful lullaby that had everyone staring at it in dumb awe. As soon as the song died away, I could thinks straight again.
I knew what this was. It was a Phoenix, I'd read about them in the manor's crazy library books. They burst into flames, and begin life anew. They never really die until they are no longer needed on earth. Humming to myself, I looked at it.
"You wanna come home with me?" I offered, and it trilled in agreement.
I turned to go, when one of the group, (A boy with baby-blue eyes) snapped out of his staring. "Hey, you can't just take that bird! We saw him first, didn't we guys?" The other two girls made noises of agreement.
I turned back to them with a raised eyebrow. "Hmm. I suppose you did." I made eye contact with all of them, and waved my hand. "Obliviate." They all looked like they were in a state of shock. "You didn't see a boy or a bird today. You just continued with whatever you were doing. Ok?" They nodded numbly. I smirked, and turned on my heel to head back home. I was surprised the spell actually worked without destroying their minds. Or did it…ah well, not my problem.
"So," I said casually to the Phoenix in my arms. "You need a name, huh?"
A trill. I take that as a yes.
"How about…Ralph?"
An indignant squawk. I glanced down, and I swear the bird was glaring at me.
"Ok, ok! Not Ralph. How about…umm…Casper?"
Silence. Then a loud and happy trill. Guess that was a yes, though I truly didn't see anything wrong with the name Ralph. Unless…
"Say…are you a boy or a girl?"
It nipped me on the finger, but not hard. That was the end of that subject, then. I chatted on and on with the bird until we got home. I made my way to Tom's study to show him.
"-And I told MacNair, if you think you can kill a Lernean Hydra, then you're even more insane than-" I stopped short, and grinned at the man seated at the desk. "Oh, hey Tom! Look at what I found in town!" I plopped myself down on my usual seat across from him, and set Casper on the desk. She trilled at him.
Tom stared from the bird to me, then back again. "…How in the bloody hell did you manage to find a Phoenix in the middle of a Muggle town?" he finally questioned me.
I grinned. "I dunno! Some kids were crowding around her, and she went on…fire when I came over." I still hadn't gotten over that major dent in my ego.
Tom peered at Casper curiously. "Hmm. Phoenix's seek out the wizard's they bond with. My guess is that she was trying to find you, since you were in the village. But it was a Burning Day. So she had to stop." Ah. So it wasn't just me, then.
"Wait…bonded? You mean like-" I was rudely interrupted.
"As a familiar, yes. I can tell by your aura. It's in sync with hers now. Most wizard's don't get bonded with familiar's until they are older, if ever. Yours seems to have found you early, though." He gave me a dry but piercing look. "Congratulations, brat."
I smirked. "Is someone jealous?" I taunted.
He sneered at me. "Not likely. I prefer snakes over birds. The only thing that concerns me is the fact that it is a Phoenix, of all things."
"What's wrong with that?" I asked suspiciously.
"Phoenix's generally come to those who, at some point, will need the extra help." he explained slowly. "Dumbledore has one, and he's Leader of the Light. Never mind the fact it has come to you so early."
Oh. Well, that made having a Phoenix slightly less…fun. "So…what do you think I'll need the extra help with?" I asked, feeding Casper a bit of chocolate, which she gladly nibbled on.
Tom shrugged. "I'm not a seer." he answered simply, but I got the feeling he knew more than he was letting on.
Lernean Hydra = Mythical Greek creature. If my sources are correct, it has seven heads. One is immortal. If you chop off any of the others, another head grows back. Info is from Wiki. :P
Heh. A Phoenix. Not original, I know, but I love those little birds. At first I was going to give Harry a dog. A Rottwiler, actually. Then I thought, no, that won't work. Then I thought about a snake, but Voldemort already had Nagini, why need two snakes in the story? So, Phoenix it was. What do you think? Good or bad?
And yes, for you Sirius fans who are reading this, Sirius Black is released from Azkaban! Early. I have always got the feeling, ever since I read POA, that Dumbledore put Sirius in Azkaban on purpose. I mean, who the hell cast the Fidelius Charm anyway? Wouldn't they need a very powerful wizard to do it? *Pokes Dumbledore* Also, Dumbles was part of the Wizgammot (SP?) and he could have easily asked for a simple trial. If canon-Harry had lived with Sirius his whole life, he wouldn't have been dependant on Dumbledore. Therefore, he may not have sacrificed himself for the Greater Good.
Well. Now that my rant is over, the bottom line is, Sirius went on the run when he read Harry was thought to be dead. Got parole, is a free man now, and is an active member of the Order. Whoopie.
Next chapter will be up soon. Here's a question for you readers. I have an idea for the next chapter. Would it severely piss anyone off if Snape went traitor to the dark? (As in, stopped being spy and just stayed with Dumbledore?) If so, I can easily alter the plot. Please review and tell me. =)