When the fifth of January rolled around the Hogwarts Express once again departed to the school, beginning 1997 with an exceptionally intense snowstorm.

At the same time as the train was heading for Scotland there was a break in at Azkaban prison.

/_-^_^_/

Azkaban Prison was not a place anyone would want to find themselves, if it wasn't the loneliness and the miserable weather, it was the presence of Dementors on every level of the hell hole.

Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters stood outside the prison, with the former lowering the wards that surrounded the building. With a flash of red and green light, as well as the sound of glass shattering, the wards fell and the guards within immediately scrambled to defend the walls of the prison.

The first three guards to show up were immediately slain by the Dark Lord with a single wave of his hand, their corpses holding the door open. Those that remained within the prison heard the high laugh of the Dark Lord, inspiring terror within their souls.

There were ten wands aimed at the entrance, the owners waiting for the inevitable appearance of the Dark Lord and his followers.

Their tensions rose and rose, ever mounting as they heard nothing but the sounds of the sea.

None of them wanted to fall out of position and get picked off easily, and so they waited.

On the other side of the door the Death Eaters were also aimed and prepared to strike, though they weren't going through the door. Lord Voldemort would fly up to the correct level, blowing a chunk of the wall to pieces, and stepping into the prison.

He stepped over the corpse of the prisoner that had resided in the cell whose wall he had demolished, not caring to check who it was, and vanished the bars to step out into the hallway. As expected there was the sudden appearance of Dementors, though they were confused upon their arrival, only partially detecting Voldemort's fractured soul.

They flew past him and out the hole he had made moments earlier, most likely in pursuit of his Death Eaters, though he didn't particularly care about any as they were all replaceable.

Lord Voldemort finally stopped in front of the cell containing the very person he had come here for, he placed his wand on the bars of the cell, vanishing them as well.

"My Lord? You came." The voice of a child sounded.

"Yes, I have, I've heard the news, Albus Dumbledore is dead. Your brother did well."

"Have I proven myself to you?"

"Yes you have, you have earned the reward I promised to you."

"Thank you, my lord, thank you."

"Avada Kedavra." The Dark Lord responded, killing Dennis Creevey where he stood for the simple crime of knowing too much, before turning away and signalling to his men to fall back.

/_-^_^_-/

"Leave me alone, I'm not my brother!" Colin shouted after being pushed to the ground, ironically landing in the same place that Harry had last year.

"You and that miserable little brother of yours are a blight on this world."

"Leave him alone." Harry stepped out of his compartment and put himself between Cormac McLaggen and Colin.

"I'm doing this for you, Potter, stay out of it."

"You're bullying a fifth year, I don't care why. Leave him alone, he has suffered enough." Behind Harry, Colin rose to his feet and stood at Harry's side.

"I don't get you, Potter, he could have left you unable to use your leg and yet you would defend him."

"He was under the Imperius curse and has been cleared of any wrongdoing. This vigilante bullshit won't help any of us. I thank you for defending my honour, though I politely ask you to do so verbally in the future." Harry finished, adding on the Pureblood way to tell him not to use his physical strength.

"You're welcome. I do apologise, Colin, I won't physically attack you again." Cormac held out his hand for the smaller boy to shake, which he did reluctantly.

"I'll see you in our first Elemental session." Harry responded as the Gryffindor walked away.

"Sorry about that Colin, I didn't expect people to be this hostile towards you."

"Why did you step in? You have hated me since day one."

"True, I have. However in the time since then and now I've been through so much that it would have been impossible to come out the same. I'm not saying that I want to be your friend, at least not until you realise why I didn't like you for the longest time."

"I know why. I treated you as a character from a book, and not the person that is truly you. After being treated like the subject of news articles and not as me I know how it feels, I just hope that it passes."

"Are you prepared to drop all of your excuses? Do you truly wish to be part of the Wizarding World?"

"Of course."

"Then join me and my friends occasionally for studying sessions, we can try to help you."

"Thank you Harry."

"No worries Colin." Harry responded as he turned to reenter the compartment and wait for the train to arrive, stroking Fawkes and Hedwig for most of the journey.

After a few hours of chatter and card games the train pulled up at Hogsmeade Station and the students left, heading for the carriages that would take them to the castle and out of the rain.

It felt good to step into Hogwarts, walking alongside his friends and peers Harry entered the Great Hall and sat down, looking around the room until his eyes settled on the staff table. He felt a twinge of sorrow as he saw Professor McGonagall sitting in the Headmaster's, or rather Headmistress' chair, remembering the loss of a great man.

After a feast and a speech, the children were all sent to bed to prepare for the first day of learning for the year.

Harry went to sleep that night with a smile on his face that didn't slip even once.