A New Dawn
By: s h l o m o 1 1 1
a/n: first of all i just wanted to tell you that i dont own any of this.
now, this is a revised chapter since i have just found someone to Beta For me.
onemore thing, REVIEW! People - i need feedback on the story.
ok, now on with the show!
Prologue:
Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry,
Headmaster's Office
The evening after the Department of Mysteries
It took a lot of time, but over the years one Albus Dumbledore became the grandmaster manipulator that he was today. Of course, no one knew about it and the rest of the wizards in England (or the 'sheep', as he liked to call them) never even suspected a thing seeing as he was the great and all powerful Albus Dumbledore.
Right now, he was seated in his office, thinking how the last fifteen years of planning had gone to waste while waiting for the rest of the Order to arrive for the meeting.
'Right now, when everything was in place and the plan to get rid of Tom once and for all was set, Potter had to ruin it. Well really it wasn't his fault alone. If only Severus had really taught him Occlumency like I asked him to none of this would have happened. Well no matter, the only thing that is left to do now is correct my mistakes, come up with a new plan and set the wheels in motion once again. Shouldn't be too hard…
Just then the security sphere that was stationed under his desk told him that someone was at the door and about to enter his office. While no one knew about it, Dumbledore had these kind of spheres stationed at every important place in the school and that was how he seemed to know everything that went on around the castle.
Knock, knock…
"Come in." called Dumbledore after he composed himself and put his face in his usual calm and serene mask a mask that he spent year upon year perfecting.
The door opened and in walked Severus Snape, Minerva McGonagall, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Ron Weasley and Alastor 'Mad-eye' Moody.
While the adults of the group were what he liked to call his 'inner circle', Ron was there only because he was the perfect tool for doing what ever Dumbledore needed done in regards to Harry without arousing too much suspicion. While he was not yet a full member of the Order it was very easy to make him do almost everything Albus ever wanted. All he had to do was throw a few crumbs for the boy, like the prefect position at the beginning of the year and he had already promised him the quidditch captaincy next year as well. At first, Albus had thought of asking Hermione Granger to help him in his plan but as much as she never questioned authority figures, she was also fiercely loyal to her friends and he didn't want to take the chance that she will discover his real plan and tell Potter about it.
"Welcome, welcome everyone. Please sit." said Dumbledore to the people and with a flick of his wand conjured comfortable chairs for them to sit on.
"Okay Albus, what was the emergency that caused you to call for this meeting at such an ungodly hour?" asked Mad-eye.
"I think that we may have a problem regarding our young Harry." Replied Dumbledore.
Right as he was finishing his sentence Mrs. Weasley got her usual worried look on her face and was preparing her lungs for a good shriek when Dumbledore raised up his hand to silence her.
"I know that you worry about Harry, Molly but I am afraid that in this case there is nothing you can do. Now on to the problem at hand. As you remember, I told you at the end of last year that there was a chance that Harry will turn to the Dark side. While that chance was very slim it was still there because of his abusive childhood…"
"You already told us that Albus." piped Mrs. Weasley.
"…I know Molly, please let me finish. Now where was I? Oh yes, up until now the danger of Harry turning Dark was almost non existent but now after the events of the Department of Mysteries, I am afraid to say that it has become our major concern.
For you see, at the Department of Mysteries, Harry was possessed by Voldemort…"
The Weasley clan flinched.
"…and while I believe that Harry was not physically harmed after managing to eject Voldemort from his mind, I know for a fact that he was mentally harmed in such a way that made all the charms that I had placed on him null and void."
"You never told me that you placed any charms on the boy, Albus. You know just as well as I am that placing any kind of charms on anyone without their consent is strictly illegal and can get you up to 30 years in Azkaban, depending on the charms that you placed on the boy…" growled Mad Eye.
"I know our laws very well Alastor, considering as I help write most of them but you already know my reasoning for doing what is necessary."
"What charms did you place on the boy Albus?" asked Professor McGonagall.
"Ah… well let's see, aha! Here I knew I had written it down somewhere. Okay, the charms… yes; okay, first a monitoring spell, then a power reduction charm, then a wit inhibition hex, an emotional block, a mild Confundus charm and lastly a trusting spell keyed to me so as to make Harry trust me more easily."
While on the outside everybody seemed okay with the charms that Dumbledore had cast on Harry, Mad-Eye was seething on the inside at Dumbledore's nerve and manipulation of the boy. He had to do something about this and a plan was already forming in his head. His musings were cut short by Mrs. Weasley's shrill voice asking Dumbledore something.
"Okay Albus but how do you know that they are not working anymore?"
"Quite simply Molly, yesterday Harry and I had a discussion here after the Department of Mysteries and Harry simply exploded on me for no apparent reason. He nearly blew a chunk out of the castle walls." he said while pointing to a piece of wall behind him where there was a big black scorch mark.
Molly gasped and looked fearfully at Dumbledore and asked another question with the fear evident in his voice. "So what can we do now Albus?"
"I am glad that you asked that Molly because I have a few ideas." Albus said while the twinkle in his eyes went into overdrive.
"First, I want Ronald here to take this glass orb," he said while handing it to Ron. "And place it under Harry's bed which will enable me to hear everything that happens in the room, even if Harry is in his bed with silencing charms."
"Second, I am going to arrange for Ronald here and young Ginevra to be trained by Remus, Nymphadora and Kingsley in Defense Against the Dark Arts and Dueling, so that they will be able to better protect Harry in the future and also so they will be able to keep a watch over him and make sure to stall his turn to the dark. For make no mistake, after Voldemort possessed him it became apparent that Harry going Dark is inevitable."
"Thirdly, I must insist that you tell all of your friends not to owl Harry this summer so he will have a quiet time to grieve and recuperate. Who knows, if he will have a good enough summer with his relatives for a change it just might stall his descent to the dark side enough so it will allow us to begin taking steps to make sure that he will not become the next Voldemort."
While everyone agreed to the plan, suddenly Ron came up with a question. "Headmaster? I must say that I agree with you completely regarding Potter but why won't Hermione be training with us this summer? I mean, if you explain to her the situation I am sure that she will most thankful that you have given her the opportunity to fight the dark side actively."
Dumbledore looked for just a second gobsmacked but he hid it really well. Ron had surprised him with his insight. Ah well, he shouldn't have been that surprised, even the bumbling idiot that was Ronald Weasley could every once in a few years come up with something smart to say.
After thinking quickly Professor Dumbledore answered. "While you are correct Ronald, I am afraid that we cannot do anything in regards to Miss Granger this summer for she is going with her parents to America for their yearly vacation. Even if Miss Granger will agree to my proposition, her parents will most certainly not and I cannot force them."
Everybody in the room seemed satisfied with the answer except Moody who only grew angrier by the second at Dumbledore, though he kept from showing it on the outside. He was thankful for the fact that he wouldn't be one of the trainers for these kids as he really doubted if they would be able to stun a Death Eater even after two months of magical training.
After the meeting was over Moody was the first to make his way for the door while yelling at Snape for almost breaking his wooden leg, all the while making sure that the extendable ear was retrieved back to its owner…
Hermione Granger was NOT having a good day.
She woke up later then she had planned with a sore wound that went from her chest to her stomach. Then she had to take a whole bunch of smelly and disgusting potions that were supposed to help her heal faster but to her it seemed as though the only purpose of them was to leave a bad taste in her mouth.
Then after eating breakfast (which didn't seem to settle so well, probably because of the potions) she tried going to the library and studying but that proved to be a wasted half hour because there were a bunch of 2nd years in the library who seemed intent on disturbing everybody.
So that's how she found herself on the stairs leading to the Headmasters office. She was walking down the hall on her way to the common room when she saw Professor McGonagall. Hermione had been looking for her all day because she wanted to talk to her about a project that she had wanted to do in the summer for Transfiguration and she needed her advice about which books would be best for the project.
She tried calling her but it seemed as though Professor McGonagall hadn't heard her, so Hermione tried making it in time to catch her before she entered the Headmaster's office. What she hadn't been able to figure out was why was Ron inside as well – she had seen him and his parents enter before McGonagall. But as she was about to knock on the door she heard from within the headmaster talking.
"I think that we may have a problem regarding our young Harry"
Why are they talking about Harry? She couldn't seem to find a reason for this, or for the fact that they were talking about Harry with Ron in the room, while Harry was in the common room.
Hermione knew that she wasn't supposed to eavesdrop but this seemed to concern Harry and they obviously didn't want her to hear it so she quickly pulled the extendable ear that she always carried in her pocket nowadays and quietly slid it under the door…
After hearing Moody head for the door, Hermione quickly pulled her extendable ear back to her and ran full sprint in the other direction towards the common room, all the while thinking furiously in her head.
They are crazy if they think that Harry is going to turn dark. It was like saying that Snape was actually a very nice man who was just misunderstood and that his hair was that greasy because he liked it that way. Ha! I have to find Harry; I can't let them do that to him!
She continued running until she could no more and had to stop and take a breath.
Just as she stopped she heard someone yell from behind her.
"Granger, stop running or I'll stun you!"
Harry Potter was feeling weird.
Really weird.
Last night, when he was sitting in Dumbledore's office, at first he was numb because he had just seen Sirius falling through the Veil and had been possessed by Voldemort.
But then he became so mad at Dumbledore because he hid the prophecy from him and for all the rest of the things that had happened to him throughout the year.
Then, after he left the office and made his way to his dorm room…
He didn't know how he was supposed to feel.
But one thing that he knew for certain was that he was feeling like a different person, he was feeling like for the last five years he had been living inside of a trunk and that now that trunk was opened and he was let out.
He didn't know why he felt that way, but it felt good and he was thankful for it because it helped him deal with the Prophecy. At first when he had just heard the prophecy, he wanted to cry and yell how it wasn't fair that he had to deal with things like this and basically he just wanted to dig a hole, a really big one, crawl in and hide until Voldemort died of old age.
But now, he was on a whole different mind track. Instead of making plans to hide and disappear he made plans to face his destiny head on. Since he had decided to take his life in his hands and fight back against Voldemort he made a list of all the things that he was going to ask the headmaster later.
1.Permission to do magic in the summer.
A trip to Diagon Alley (books, clothes, new trunk, maybe an extra wand?)
Private tutoring from Order members in magic of every kind he could think of (DADA, Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, Occlumency/Legilimency and swordplay and dark arts )
Make the Dursley family leave him alone.
Permission to go running every day.
After he was confident that he had everything he needed on the list he got up from his bed and made his way the door when suddenly Hermione came barrelling inside.
After pushing Harry on his bed Hermione turned around frantically looking for something or someone.
"Hermione, what?..." Harry asked, quite bewildered as he had never seen Hermione looking so scared and unsure in her life.
"Quiet, Harry!" Hermione replied in a hushed whisper.
Before Harry could even think of a reply, suddenly a figure shimmered out of thin air inside the room, shut the door and started casting a variety of spells on it.
Quick as a flash, Harry whipped his wand out and pointed it towards the semi invisible figure and said, "You have three seconds to tell me who you are before I curse you so hard that your grandchildren will feel it."
After finishing casting the spells on the door Mad-eye took off the invisibility cloak and turned around, giving Harry a proud smile.
"Very good Potter, CONSTANT VIGILANCE I always say. Now, put down that wand before you hurt yourself."
Still holding the wand firm in his hand Harry asked in a low voice, "Where is the last place I would use to store my wand?"
Moody chuckled briefly before answering, his smile getting bigger and scarier by the minute. "In your back pocket, you could lose a buttock that way"
Relaxing slightly, Harry lowered his wand but still held it in his hand and looked at Hermione for an explanation.
Hermione sighed and sat down next to Harry, still winded from all the running and together she and Moody started telling Harry about the last meeting in Dumbledore's office and their new plan.
While Harry was deeply offended by the things that he had heard and especially Ron's involvement in it all, after a few minutes of silence he finally accepted it. Mostly thanks to his 'new personality' which he now understood was Dumbledore's fault.
He finished planning with Hermione and Moody before all of them went to his or hers place to do what they needed to do in order to make the plan work.
Truth be told, Harry felt like a real Slytherin and for some odd reason, it felt like a natural thing for him now.
Right before going to sleep Harry thought,
This is going to be one interesting summer…