Magic Burning

I sometimes found myself wishing that I wasn't 'the' Harry James Potter. The Boy-Who-Lived. Harry Potter with his Lightning Scar. Well, that last one wasn't a thing, but I would have at least found some amusement in it. Though, maybe I could be Harry Evans? I had thought about just using my mother's maiden name, but I doubted anyone would listen to me anyway. I let out a breath as I stretched out on my bed. I was nearly seventeen, and again, it was one of those annoying days where it was the summer holiday and I was forced back to the Dursley's, to be bored and think too much, but on the bright side; this was the last time.

It could have been worse. Well, it could have been better because there was nothing worse than ridiculous amounts of boredom. Number Four Privet Drive sucked at the best of times, and here I am counting down to the moment when I would get to leave. It would have been nicer without all the heat. Was the country going through some kind of heatwave? I couldn't care less if I could go out, have some ice cream, or maybe hang out at a beach. I've never been to a beach before, and the closest I've been to the ocean is Hogwarts. If you look hard enough, the lake travels unto a river that leads out to sea, and apparently that salty smell we get at Hogwarts sometimes was the wind blowing in the sea air. I wasn't sweating too much, so I wasn't going to be too complain-o-holic about that.

Maybe I was just feeling off-the-weather today?

I had to chuckle there. That was the amount of my boredom; that I was laughing at my own internal pun-o-logues.

Though, maybe I could get lucky for once, and the heat would snuff out the Dursley's and do me… well, everyone a favour. Two weeks was much too long to wait until its supposedly 'safe to leave time'.

I felt my brow furrow as my head started aching. It was like the pounding of a door, only using my skull as a very bad replacement. The headaches. I never noticed them before, but they always happened any time I thought about doing something bad to the Dursley's, even in self-defence, and apparently that translated to wishing them ill. I wasn't sure why, and I think I was kidding myself because I was pretty sure it had something to do with Dumbledore's death.

"Don't play dumb!"

It was a mysterious voice inside my own head. It was rough and fierce, full of vicious confidence. It was my voice. I had never spoken like that before to my knowledge, but then I was pretty sure I was losing my mind – or maybe I already lost my mind and just now started to notice.

The voice was my own. And my inner voice was an arsehole.

"Better than being whipped!" my inner voice surprisingly answered my thoughts making me grimace.

Why did my inner thoughts have to be so… honest? Though, it didn't have to be so mean, did it? It didn't answer me that time as I'm sure I didn't need it too. I probably shouldn't lie to myself, and if the only way I'll listen is by being a hot-headed arsehole, then so-be-it.

Though, on a plus side, that greasy piece of trash, Severus Snape got rid of Dumbledore.

"Augh, shit!" I whimpered out, hopefully in a very manly way as my head exploded in agony and I sat up in my bed rubbing my eyes under my glasses like I had to keep them from falling out.

That just proved it. The more I questioned everything the more it hurt. I had never thought bad of Dumbledore before, or if I had I couldn't remember, but the fact I could do it now. The pain. Whatever was wrong with me was breaking apart within my mind and soul.

"Great Light Wizard, my arseeeee!" I hissed out through the pain. "Ah, come on – what is wrong with me?!" I continued talking to myself hoping that that would help against the pain.

Maybe I had just been hit in the head one too many times? The headaches started during those pathetic lessons to learn about the horcruxes. I still can't believe I felt bad for Tom Riddle – for Voldemort. Dumbledore saw Tom. Saw the pain. Saw the loneliness. I knew that pain myself, but yet I was forced down another path. Tom Riddle didn't have to be the way he was just because he wasn't born out of love. Just because his mother was pathetic, and pretty much…

I took a few calming breaths. I even pitied her. Tom's mum. She was just another victim of no one caring. The hatred and abuse from her father and brother, and I could read what went unsaid. Dumbledore couldn't hide what she had been through, even though he tried so hard to downplay it. I know what she likely went through. They had to keep the blood pure after all. Dumbledore couldn't hide what she did though; even that was out of his control. It was sad and pathetic that Dumbledore tried to brush it off, but I'm sure Tom Riddle Sr. didn't see it that way, or he wouldn't have fled from her.

Thinking these things. That was when the headaches began. It took me too long to link it to Dumbledore's weakened state. He wore Voldemort's cursed ring, and almost killed himself. It was a Hallow, like my cloak. It had the same trinity symbol. I had looked into it. It was something Dumbledore had obviously not thought about, or it would have hurt to think about. I had gotten a good enough look to see the mark, and realised where I had seen it before. It was a while later that I realised that Dumbledore had the last piece too; the wand.

They looked for Dumbledore's wand after his death, and asked me about it quite a lot; to put to rest with the old man, but I never told them even through the pain. I had to ignore the pain, but it was bearable enough; just, and not quite as bad as being near Voldemort, but ignoring it initially was difficult. Dumbledore obviously thought of the possibility that I might want his wand for some reason, and didn't want me having it.

The wand was still at the school. Hidden. Why did I take it? Well, when you realise someone had a supposedly unbeatable wand you didn't leave it where any piece of shit could get it, and honestly, I didn't want it myself, but I didn't feel like Voldemort should potentially get it either. I already had the cloak, and from legend, the ring was cursed worse before Voldemort got a hold of it. Though, it pained me to admit it, but bringing back the dead was impossible for mortal men and women, no matter how powerful and with what trinkets the gods left on the Earth.

However, I couldn't help but wonder who Dumbledore wanted to bring back to the living world. However, that ring. I knew he was dying before he did. Then during our trip to collect the locket horcrux, I had questioned saving him. He knew. He saw it in my eyes, and could see the pain I was in, and for a brief moment, Albus Dumbledore feared me.

I could only clench my teeth and fists against a wave of excruciating pain, and I could feel my magic fluctuate and pulse like an inferno. I could feel my anger and rage smouldering within my very being, and I liked it, and wanted it to break open, to be free.

Was this my life? Would Dumbledore's power over me ever break fully and absolute? I didn't know, but my glasses fogged up as both panes of glass shattered at once. However, I ignored my glasses as I couldn't stop thinking despite the pain, and despite the heat clouding around me.

I had to wonder. Who else was in on all of this? Some of Dumbledore's Order of the Phoenix no doubt? I hoped those close to me weren't and it made me feel a prickle of burning tears in my eyes just thinking about it.

"Ginny?" I felt her name slip off my lips before shaking my head clear. I knew her better than that, and I knew Dumbledore enough to know he wouldn't risk having her tell me something.

"We shouldn't have given up on her!"

I was startled by that voice again as it was roared like the brunt of a furious combustion of…

Looking around I let my eyes widen behind my glasses as flames lapped dangerously around me as my crappy bedroom was on fire. The plaster on the walls was pealing and I noticed the sheets beneath my arse were smoking ash. The clothes I had been wearing hadn't been much, but they were gone. The material was gone leaving me naked.

"Have I gotten bigger?" I squeaked out in an extremely manly way I can assure you as I threw myself off the bed as the metal frame sunk from the heat. The floor creaked uneven slightly as I staggered on my bare feet.

My body looked like it had gone through an overhaul and just like that my head was clearer than anything and no longer hurt. I found myself ignoring the flames as I felt the muscles along my body. I could feel the heat as I watched the metal frames and glass melting down my face, but they weren't burning me. Were the flames coming from me?

The floor crumpled a bit more while a huge crash made me turn. The flatpack closet had collapsed to burning embers. However, that wasn't what surprised me. It was seeing me. He was like a mirage flickering in a burning haze as blue-white flames splashed around him in the form of a suit with red in the tie. His eyes were like burning blood red lamps, and he wore an angry smirk, his right hand in his trouser pocket with his jacket hitched up slightly.

"I'm sure, Ginny will appreciate that from us!" I said laughingly. I wasn't quite sure whether that came from me or the apparation, but I looked down at a certain improvement while it was said before looking up again and the apparation was gone. I was bigger from height to muscle mass to – other areas, as I leaned up and if I wasn't in a burning house, I would say I felt amazing.

If the house wasn't burning down around me, I might have had time to worry about my sanity. Though, I did manage a moment to regret breaking up with Ginny. It was so foolish of me. Like the Death Eaters would leave her alone just because we broke up. If I got out of this mess alive, I was going to see whether I could reverse that ridiculousness.

My life was hectic, and just the thought. Life was too short to be such a dickhead.

"Yeah, give her a good time, or let her give me one!" I found myself laughing as the floor sunk and then gave way and the next moment I was coughing on the thick smoke as I pulled myself up from the rubble and moved quickly as more burning junk followed me down.

"Maybe some of her friends would like some fun too!" I chuckled between coughs as I stumbled and shook from the effort to stay standing. That fall had winded me and I was disorientated, and I felt something sticky and boiling on my forehead over my scar and absentmindedly swiped it away as I stumbled through what used to be the lounge and into the hall.

Then I fell to my knees in a roar of pain while whimpering as blue flames burst through my right eye, and then it was over. Flames burned brightly from my eye, or what was my eye, but it stopped hurting. I reflectively brought my right hand to my eye, but the flames didn't hurt, and when I pulled my hand back the spillage of flame was gone, unless you count all the flames all around me, and I couldn't help but panic a little as my right eye was now dead.

On the bright side my left eye seemed to be working better than I could ever recall, and since I lost my glasses that was pretty cool. Unfortunately, the inferno trying to murder me wasn't cool. Though, if this was all my magic would my death be suicide or an accident?

I forced myself back up onto my feet as I really hated the thought of dying like this, just when I had gotten back something, I never knew had been stolen from me. Me. Wow, just thinking that made me cringe despite the heat and my pending doom. I couldn't even see a centimetre in front of my face anymore as I choked on smoke and stumbled through the flames.

"Don't be so pathetic!"

I was startled by the voice again.

"The building might as well be paper, just walk forward!"

I groaned but did as said and bumped into something that crumpled under my touch and I stumbled on, crawling until, it happened, fresh air, and an explosion that blasted me flying, thankfully outside. I don't know whether I passed out or not, but I was soon scooting myself around as I breathed in the cool air and turned to look at the house burning down and glowing in the late evening.

The fire had spread out across other houses, and I could hear alarms and sirens coming from every direction and frowned. Did the Dursley's not have smoke alarms because I didn't remember hearing any?

I noticed the aching in my right eye, or what was left of it, but honestly, my whole body ached. I had some bruising that showed up from the light of the flames through the dark of the garden where I was up against a broken fence in the far corner. However, I didn't appear to have a single burn, not even any singed hair.

"Okay, I have to get out of here," I felt myself saying rather than actually doing anything. "Don't let them win. Never surrender. Never bow. Never die. That sort of thing!" Though, even as I thought those things, I was naked, stuck, and could barely move from the aches and bruises and obvious magical exertion.

"Ginny!" I muttered as I lay back in a bush at the back of the garden as if she might magically appear to do all sorts of fun things with me before helping me get the hell out of here.

I felt myself drifting into unconsciousness when I started as I felt small, cool hands touch my burning flesh. My one good eye connected with two dark orbs of the small creature sobbing over me.

I had to hold back my groan. "Dobby!" I said gently to gain the elf's attention. Though, I did note it was strange to see the elf without stacks of clothes and hats.

"H-Harry Potter sir!" the elf cried out while whimpering and started wringing his long ears with his long fingers. He was also wearing a Hogwarts crest on a tee-towel like a toga, and tears fell from his large black eyes and spilled off his long-pointed nose. House-elves weren't exactly easy on the eyes by human aesthetics, and totally ruined everyone's believe in elves being beautiful creatures, but I was ecstatic to see the little guy.

I smiled at first when I found myself stalling that smile with a frown. "What h-happened to all of your hats?"

Dobby was squeezing his long flappy ears harder, tugging at them slightly while huge tears continued to run down from his dark eyes, dripping off his long thin nose while he whimpered as if he had done something wrong.

"D-Dobby was tricked," Dobby said quietly. "Dobby found terrible secret," the elf whispered while tugging his ears further and looked like he was fighting to stop himself and not quite winning. "Tried to tell Harry Potter, Sir… forced to be Hogwarts Elf and ordered never to see the Great Harry Potter, Sir again. But magic has broken – he is dead."

I could only manage to chuckle humourlessly as I saw what went unsaid. "You want to work for me?" I asked breathlessly as it was all I could do for him. "You can do whatever you want, clothes lore, forget about it, all of those stupid lore's; I'll let you be free of them. I want you to be free from your binds… that is your first and last order as a slave…" I had to hold off spitting out that word.

"Oh yes, Harry Potter, Sir!" The Elf sobbed as I could swear, I saw a light flash behind his eyes for a moment before he threw himself onto my chest causing me to wince in pain. "You are Greater than Dobby could have ever known."

"Yep, but you're hurting me," I winged out.

Dobby quickly got up to his knees beside me looking terribly guilty. "I'm sorry, Great Harry Pot-."

I quickly sat up and put up a hand to signal silence. "Don't worry about it, buddy," I said breathlessly before he started humping me or something, and to deal with stopping weird things like that. "What about Winky. Does she want a job too? Same deal as you; her first and last order, to break her bindings…" That felt right, as I broke my bindings, so too could they. They could help me on an equal playing field. I was feeling so tired, but I felt content to just lie back for a moment more, and two helpful magical elves sounded better than one.

"Oh yes, thank you, Great Harry Potter, Sir," Dobby said quickly nodding with his ears flopping on his head.

"And you can apparate me out of here?" I asked quickly. "I'm much too exhausted to apparate without risking losing a limb or two. And I need some clothes – and somewhere to stay – but I think somewhere away from people right now would be best – I think I know where we could go once, I'm fit enough – if we can find them."

"Yes, Sir!" Dobby said seriously as he carefully took my arm and hand before turning to the yard, and raising his free hand with a ripple of light surrounding us just, as several people apparated in before us, a few metres ahead staring towards the burning building.

Dobby went to lower his hand with the light flickering, but I quickly acted and grabbed his wrist and held it steady, Dobby turned to me, surprised but he nodded in understanding, and kept us hidden.

"Oh Merlin…?" It was Hermione Granger. I considered her a close friend, but she was very authoritative, and I couldn't be sure of her allegiance. I hope she will see reason. Plus, I wasn't sure I really wanted all of these people to see me naked in a bush with Dobby.

Hermione had gasped out her words almost as soon as she apparated into the backyard of the Dursley's with several members of the Order of the Phoenix, as the wards had likely collapsed – alerting them – allowing them to get there – so close – fast.

"Shit, Hermione…" The lanky ginger boy (Ronald Weasley – her boyfriend), next to her decided that the burning house deserved some sturdier language. I was more inclined to believe that Dumbledore could easily manipulate him into being the biggest dipshit in the universe unfortunately.

"There's magic in the flames – a lot of it." Mad-Eye Moody growled out coldly as he clomped a little closer on his peg-leg. He was dressed in a large brown leather coat while the others wore their everyday robes.

Moody's right eye was a fake, and attached to straps and span around crazily in his eye socket, like some kind of Halloween eyepatch. He looked every which way; even through the back of his own skull. Then directly at me and Dobby for a moment before looking away. Seems my new best friend, Dobby the Elf could hide from that eye. I had looked into the eye, and it couldn't see through things like I would like for my own new eye as it seems I'll be needing something, but does some kind of X-ray thing, so I guess it needed light to see like real eyes, so maybe Dobby was bending light. I would have to figure out how to do that as it was rather clever and possibly explained how House-elves are never seen unless they needed to be.

"Potter's not here," Moody growled out.

"T-the Death Eaters?" Nymphadora Tonks asked from behind while looking concerned. I found that pleasing. I like Tonks. She's rather pleasant company, and most of the time she's not looking so down. She sounded subdued and though she still looked nice her normally vibrant and bright hair was a dull and a normal brown colour, and short, looking much too normal for a shapeshifting young woman with her previous fun spirit.

"No Dark Mark," Moody said pointing to the sky. "But I suppose it still could have been. Potter's a sneaky one. Could have gotten away."

"Or he could have caused this." They were interrupted by a large British-Jamaican Auror who also worked for the Order of the Phoenix. Kingsley Shacklebolt. Or what was left of the Order since Dumbledore's death.

"I don't think Harry knows any fire magic," Hermione defended him with a worried frown as she turned to look at the burning house, with uncertainty. "Yeah, he barely knows how to conjure water," she muttered more to herself than them, but I still couldn't help but feel slighted. It wasn't like fire and water magic were that necessary in the modern age, even in the primitive Magical World, to the point it wasn't really something taught in great detail until year seven.

"Well, something happened to him, right?" Ron said while looking unconcerned. They all stared at him. "Well, he's not here lying on the grass waiting for us to help him out," he added with an uncomfortable shrug.

"If he is, we're doing a worse job than usual," Hermione said looking around like she just now thought to and I had to stifle a laugh or get found out. I'm surprised I've not been discovered.

"… and the Muggles have started putting out the fire," Moody interrupted quickly, as he must have used his magical eye again to see the Fire Fighters with huge hoses the other side of the house. "We should get out of here before they see us."

"B-but we have to find Harry," Hermione said. This time she sounded a lot more concerned. "What if he was dazed and wandered off. And he's now curled up battered and bleeding in a ditch somewhere? Harry is accident prone. And he gets hurt so much that I don't think he's fought anyone without injury before… and… and…-"

"We should hurry so we can look for him," Tonks said quickly before looking up at the burning house, but Moody interrupted before she could ask.

"Only three bodies," Moody said quietly, and I felt the bile in my throat. I hadn't thought of them, and I wasn't sure whether I cared that I had killed them or not. Though, this was Dumbledore's doing, so I couldn't blame myself. "None of them him. If they burned any longer, I wouldn't be able to tell."

"Let's go," Kingsley said.

The others nodded and a moment later they were gone, but for Hermione who looked around while threating with her fingers and tears in her eyes.

"Harry," she whispered. "Please be safe… idiot!" she finished before she too left in the blink of an eye.

Dobby lowered his hand and turned back to me. I frowned. He looked a little less wrinkly. Maybe it was my imagination.

However, it was nice to know that Hermione seemed to care so much, but was she – were the others Dumbledore's minions after death? I could only hope not, at least let me keep Hermione. Hermione was the most useful of my friends, and much easier on the eyes, and I think she would be the hardest to turn my back on as through everything, she had never once turned on me. Hermione always had my back, so I have to have faith in her, I love her, I realised, like a sister? I didn't really get it, but she was important, and if someone was important you should not give up on them too quickly.

I turned to look Dobby over fully and internally shrugged, as I would deal with Hermione and everything else at a later date.

"I think I need some clothes, Dobby, and, and, Gringotts," I said and before I could say more, we were gone.

Unlocked Mystic

It had been a full day since the fire and Harry's disappearance and Ginny Weasley was at the Burrow, which was the name of her family home. She was a cute and slender crimson haired girl, and moping around the house had become a pastime of hers this summer holiday, but since Harry had gone dark on everyone, she hadn't even bothered to shower, and was still wearing the clothes from the day before when she heard about Harry disappearing.

Ginny was worried sick and was paler than she ever had been. Her eyes were red from crying and lack of sleep. She knew she should have fought him about his stupid noble breaking up with her to protect her bull-shit. Like any of the Death Eaters would care that they broke up? As soon as she found him, she would make sure she never let him go again, and it didn't help that Hermione was being all mopy too.

Harry didn't seem alright sometimes as it was, and Ginny worried. He could sometimes do some neat magic and then he couldn't get so many simple spells right. But she trusted to know that he could find his way; and if he didn't, she would have to snog him onto the right path – or she could think of something else that they would both enjoy much-much more.

Ginny smiled a little and felt her cheeks light up while thinking about all of those things and caught herself licking her lips. "Please be okay," Ginny muttered under her breath.

Entering her private sanctum away from all the chaos of Harry going missing and Fleur and Bill's wedding. In other words, her bedroom, Ginny hoped to feel a bit of relief from the chaos of the wedding and people concerned with Harry's disappearance.

However, Ginny was startled as something seemed off. She looked around in confusion. She couldn't quite put her mind on what felt off.

"Did I leave the window open?" she asked herself thoughtfully. "No. I bet Gabby probably opened it."

Ginny's bed was an unmade mess, but that wasn't too unusual. She had clothes on the floor in a pile, some dirty knickers she realised as she scooped those up and threw them in her hamper. Gabrielle, Fleur's little sisters camp bed was to the other side neatly made except for the dirty laundry as Ginny found a fellow mess-maker. Ginny was pleased that she and Gabby got along so well and could have some fun together, as the younger girl tried to cheer her up. Ginny over looked the fact that Gabrielle had a huge crush on Harry.

Ginny was thankful that Gabby roomed with her though, rather than it be Hermione, as her friend while great would want her to talk everything out, which she didn't feel like doing and Gabby let her be on that front. Hermione was staying at a 'safe house' for extra space and with floo fires it was easy to go from location to location even if it was sickening travelling by fire; they had some safe gates.

Hermione wasn't too bad, and was nice enough, and Ginny knew she cared about Harry, as they were possibly best friends, or Harry was Hermione's best friend at least as Ginny knew Ronald (her brother) was quite useless. However, Hermione having a bit of a spat with Ron over something stupid she was sure meant that Hermione wouldn't be staying over until the day and night before the wedding. That was probably a good idea. Though, Ginny did wonder why her idea of keeping Hermione and getting rid of Ron was vetoed.

However, since Ginny didn't have Hermione around, it was a great surprise that Gabrielle was a great comfort to Ginny, and especially that night when she was so upset over Harry, and they cuddled tightly all night long in Ginny's bed. Gabby was nice and warm and much sweeter than Ginny would have thought, and it was thanks to her that Ginny must have gotten a few hours' sleep at least.

Looking at her desk, Ginny finally saw what was missing. Or she should say what shouldn't have been there.

Ginny closed and locked the door behind her as she sat at the chair by her desk and picked up the white piece of card with caution. The back was engraved with waved flames, and narrowing her eyes, Ginny was surprised that they patterned loads of cute fairies that were possibly only wearing fire. It was weird, but fascinating, and rather beautiful.

Flipping the post card, it was almost blank, except for a few words in azure blue ink dead centre:

Ginny,

The foolish can ask for you, and the foolish can accept me.

Be foolish with me, at the wedding. But once I have you, and you have me. I won't ever want to let you go.

I love you.

-Harry

xoxox

Ginny felt tears prickling at her brown eyes as she recognised his writing, as a wide grin spread to her lips and she laughed in tears of happiness. She would see him soon. He would come and get her. They would be together where they belonged.

"My foolish idiot," Ginny whispered while holding the card close to her chest as her heart pounded against the inside of her ribs. "I won't ever let you go either." It was the first time he had ever told her how he felt. He had come close, she knew, but it always seemed like he couldn't, not yet.

"I love you, too!" she whispered in joy. "Let's be foolish together."